Geneva. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns in the strongest possible manner targeting journalists in zones of conflict the latest Taha Hameed, Director of the Iraqi satellite news channel al-Massar TV. Hameed was traveling in Baghdad with human rights activist Abed Farhan Thiyab, when unknown gunmen shot them dead in their car on 9 April.
Recent killings of journalists in zones of military conflict include Jamal al-Sharabi, photojournalist, Al-Masdar, Sanaa, Yemen, March 18 and Mohammed al-Nabbous, Libya Al-Hurra (Free Libya), Benghazi, Libya, March 19. In addition the PEC condemns strongly the ambushing of Director of photography at Al Jazeera Ali Hassan Al-Jaber near Benghazi, Libya, March 12.
The PEC is worried by the detention of some 30 journalists by Libyan authorities during the course of the conflict and pronounces its strong denunciation of their inhuman treatment by the authorities.
The PEC calls upon Libyan authorities to release all journalists detained and to put an end to its campaign of intimidation of media personnel. The Geneva based NGO calls upon the Libyan authorities to release without delay information on the missing journalists.
The Geneva based NGO joins all like minded defenders of human rights and NGOs who are calling for a special session of the Human Rights Council to discuss gross human rights violations by the current regimes in Bahreïn, Yemen and Syria and to include in that session a special section on the victimization of media.
In addition the PEC calls upon the Bahraini, Syrian and Yemeni governments to allow free access and coverage of the civil unrest underway, and to put an end to the crackdown on the local media.
According to the PEC monitoring of media casualties 22 journalists were killed from the beginning of this year among them 5 in Iraq.
For more details consult: www.pressemblem.ch
Discussion about this post