The Mesopotamia Women Journalists Association (MKG) has released its report titled “Violations of Rights Against Women Journalists” for March.
The report stated: “Detentions, threats, investigations, lawsuits, restrictions experienced in courtrooms, police interventions in the field, and digital censorship practices have shown that journalists’ professional activities are being suppressed in a multidimensional manner. The violations recorded in March demonstrate that journalism is no longer treated within the scope of the public’s right to be informed but is increasingly handled as a field of judicial and administrative intervention. The targeting of journalists for carrying out activities that are directly part of journalism, such as following news, monitoring social developments, reporting on press statements, and sharing information from the field, has directly undermined the public’s right to access information. In particular, restrictions imposed on journalists in courtrooms, police interventions in the field, and access barriers directed at digital platforms reveal that pressure on the press is not limited to a single area but continues in interconnected and reinforcing forms.
These violations against women journalists have made working conditions more precarious, while also narrowing the space for critical and Free Press. Ensuring that journalists can work in free, safe, and equal conditions requires that these violations be made visible, documented, and that the collective struggle in defense of press freedom be strengthened.”
According to the violations documented in the report, one journalist was detained and one journalist was threatened. Investigations were opened against two journalists, while two journalists faced lawsuits and two were sentenced. Trials of seven journalists are ongoing, while five journalists remain imprisoned.
In addition, one website and 41 social media accounts were shut down, and the number of social media platforms subject to access restrictions reached 13.
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