Journalists struggle to cover Turkish military offensive amid press freedom violations

Peregraf- Duhok

Six journalists were arrested over the course of a month this summer while trying to cover the ongoing Turkish offensive inthe Kurdistan Region, according to a watchdog. The military operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) began on June 15 and has turned parts of Duhok governorate into a battlefield. Yet journalists have been prevented from doing their jobs by the local security forces.

The most recent press freedom violation took place on July 13 when two journalists from Channel 8 were arrested by the security forces in Duhok’s Amedi district. Three days earlier, a reporter from Zoom News was subjected to the same treatment.

Statements from the two outlets, which are both based in Sulaimaniyah, directly connected the arrests with the journalists’work covering the Turkish offensive. Peregraf reached out to the affected reporters, but they declined to comment on their arrests.

“Not once — but several times — they have prevented us from going to the areas affected by the war to cover the news. Even I have been prevented,” Birar Nerwayi, head of NRT's Duhok office, told Peregraf.

“We have an official license to work and our only purpose is to provide professional coverage of the fighting and conflict for the public,” he said. “How can they prevent coverage of such a big story?”

According to the Kurdistan Region’s Press Law, journalists are free to work and have the right to obtain information from different sources. They can attend press conferences and report on newsworthy events in the public interest.

The same law prohibits the authorities from arresting journalists in the course of their work without a judicial order and prior notice to the Kurdistan Journalists’ Syndicate.

In practice, however, these protections are regularly ignored.

Kamran Osman, a member of Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), has monitored violations of press freedom in the Kurdistan Region for many years. CPT also closely observes cross-border Turkish military activity.

“Between June 15 to July 15, six journalists were arrested in the Badinan region [of Duhok governorate] while covering the Turkish invasion. The detainees were released after several hours,” Osman told Peregraf.

In addition to the violations in Duhok, the security forces in Sulaimaniyah city seized the journalistic equipment of reporters from Roj News while they were covering a press conference by a group opposed to the Turkish offensive.

However, Osman believes that journalists appear to be getting better information about the current offensive compared with past Turkish incursions.

The Turkish military has been active inside Iraqi territory for years on the pretext of combating the PKK. It has numerous bases deep within the Kurdistan Region and regularly kills and injures civilians. There have been nine civilian fatalities so far this year.

Farhad Mahmoud, who serves as governor of Duhok’s Batifa district, told Peregraf that “there is no order from the government that bans coverage of fighting in the area.”

“However, there is no fighting in our district now, but there was two years ago,” he said.

Mahmoud added that journalists were given access during that time, along with instructions not to risk their lives unduly and to “receive and convey good and accurate information about the situation.”

However, the Press Law does not contain any article or provision that journalists must obtain special permission to cover news events.

Nerwayi told Peregraf that breaking news requires swift action and if journalists have to wait for permission then it is likely that they will not be able to communicate the story properly.

He called for officials to facilitate media coverage, rather than preventing them from doing their jobs.

So far, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and local officials have not done that. They have not even releasedstatements about the military situation. This has created tension with media outlets.

Vian Abbas, head of the Duhok branch of the KurdistanJournalists’ Syndicate, told Peregraf that journalists can cover the conflict areas, but they must obtain permission from the security agencies before doing so. She said that this was because the security forces are responsible for the journalists’ safety.

According to the Syndicate, only three violations have been recorded in Duhok this year, including one in Shiladze and two in the conflict zone.

“We were with them in the cases until they were released,” she said about the journalists who were detained.

In contrast, there were 30 violations the during the same period last year, she said, adding that they were mostly due to “misunderstandings.”

However, this seems to be an undercount. Reporters for Rights and Development, an independent press freedom monitor, has recorded 78 incidents involving 145 journalists during the first six months of the year across the Kurdistan Region. Most of these violations involved prevention of coverage.

Osman believes there is a difference in allowing the media to cover the conflict areas.

“Our investigations revealed that some media outlets wanted to cover the conflict areas without informing the district administration and security agencies. They have not been prevented, but in general [the security forces] do not allow any outlet to cover these areas at night,” he said.

Abbas said she completely supports journalists, even if they are accused of wrongdoing. However, she also believes that journalists should receive better training in how to properly cover the news and keep themselves safe.