Monitoring Report of the Iraqi Women Journalists Forum (IWJF): the reality of press freedom in Iraq for the period from May 4, 2021, to May 3, 2022.

World Press Freedom Day is an opportunity to remind the Iraqis and the world in general of the importance of the safety and protection of press freedom prescribed by the Universal Declaration of human rights as a fundamental human right, as well as guaranteed by the Iraqi constitution through Article 38.

The period from May 4, 2021, to May 3, 2022, have witnessed high rates of violence against journalists in Iraq continuously, among the local and foreign media, and diverse cases of repression, imprisonment, threats, assassination attempts, closure of institutions, extortion, and defamation of journalists of different cities of Iraq, which was a hindrance to practice job duties of their profession.

In addition to that, some governmental and non-governmental parties have also restricted media freedom by preventing journalists from covering important events or obtaining information, particularly with regard to demonstrations and sit-ins, with an escalation of targeting them via social media.

The report, prepared by the Iraqi Women Journalists Forum, reported more than 100 cases of targeting journalists and media institutions, including 26 cases of threats, harassment, defamation, bullying, and extortion of Iraqi women journalists. Some of whom were mentioned by their names in the report, while others have requested not to be named for security and personal reasons.

The report also noted a further decline in freedom of expression and media in Kurdistan region and some of the disputed cities.

The following is the list of the most major cases recorded during the year:

Document-3-may-2022