The plight of the Arab press manifests itself clearly in Iraq with a substantial number of national and foreign journalists and media professionals that have fallen victim to the armed conflict following the 2003 invasion. The number of press casualties differs according to the source; the Iraq Journalists’ Syndicate puts it at 373, the Reporters Without Borders at 190 and the Brussels Tribunal at 382. This glaring discrepancy leads to a question whether the casualties are underestimated or perhaps even exaggerated?

It is common knowledge that the Iraqi journalists work in critical situations dictated by the strain of the political and sectarian conflict on one hand, and on the other the crackdown on prominent media institutions, the arrest of media professionals, the suspension of Iraqi satellite channels, the destruction of their equipment without legal justification and the subjecting of some journalists to torture. The offenders have not yet realized how the press operates and more importantly how it should operate, and therefore, the freedom, space and opportunity that journalists should be given to work properly and thus have access to information without any restricting constraints are not being respected. This translates into massive obstacles that hinder the fulfillment of the mission of the press. Despite the approval and ratification of the Journalist Protection Law, the move has not prevented those carrying different agendas from murdering journalists, deluding themselves that gun silencers are capable of muffling the voices of free journalists and derailing the press from its path.

The Iraqi and foreign media professionals killed in Iraq from 2003 until 2012 are distributed as follows according to the Brussels tribunal:

Source: Brussels Tribunal

The majority of media professionals murdered in Iraq were males with the number of fatalities standing at 346 against 36 for females. The largest number of murders was committed in Baghdad and its suburbs, noting that the hands of criminals did not spare the Kurdish press in the cities of Mosul and Kirkuk. Most journalists died of gunshot wounds, while other lives were claimed in explosions or deadly attacks, let alone the abusive practices that targeted many of them including arbitrary arrests, assault, bantering, detention, seizure and destruction of equipment and death threats.

The frailty of the security apparatus and the lack of criminal prosecution are among the major reasons behind the recurrence of assaults against journalists. According to the Impunity Index issued by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, Iraq has been classified for five consecutive years as the worst country at combating deadly anti-press crime. The Iraqi authorities failed to identify any culprits or obtain any convictions in 90 slayings of journalists. No investigation was carried out in any of the cases and the perpetrators went unpunished.

These staggering numbers draw to attention the need for legal protection for journalists and media institutions in a manner that guarantees the enforcement of punishment against all culprits in a bid to deter any and all violations against the press. Journalists’ unions and syndicates along with the relevant civil society organizations should receive sufficient moral and financial support to better promote their role in fighting the offences aimed at journalists.

The future of democracy is at stake in today’s Iraq, and the suppression of the press can only mean an unfortunate reversion towards the era of tyranny and dictatorship. What freedom are we preaching when even its voices are muffled?