Serious press freedom violations in Iraq dominated the scene in 2019, with unprecedented abuses recorded this year, the closure, threats and muzzles of mouths in a direct and public manner, and a relatively high number of total violations. Press Freedom Advocacy Association in Iraq recorded 373 cases of attacks against journalists in various Iraqi cities, including assassination, death threats, physical liquidation, kidnapping, detention, beating, preventing and obstructing coverage and confiscation of media equipment, armed attacks on journalists and media organizations, injuring journalists, as well as the closure of media institutions, forced dismissals, lawsuits and arrest warrants, which also included unfair government decisions to restrict journalist freedom from action in Iraq. , with the outbreak of Most of the cases were recorded after October 1st protests, the last quarter of 2019 witnessed the highest number of attacks since the regime’s topple in 2003, posing a major threat to the freedom of journalistic work in Iraq, a restriction on press freedom, and an attempt to overthrow the fourth authority in the democratic-governed country. The association recorded (210) cases of assault by beating and preventing and obstructing coverage, which supports the opinion of the association to tighten the dominion on journalists, but as for the distribution of violations according to the provinces, all Iraqi provinces witnessed types of violations against journalists, by Baghdad being on the top of the list, where There were 109 cases of violations, followed by Basra with 48 cases, and Mosul with 44, which means that the main cities in Iraq are the most ones violating the principles of the constitution that secures freedom of press work and the fourth authority in the country. It is worth mentioning that the government’s measures to isolate Iraq from the outside world, and the closure of the public atmosphere, after the cutting of the Internet service for several days during the days of demonstrations in 3 most cities of Iraq, except the Kurdistan region, and the blocking of social networking sites for nearly two months (October 2nd), is a flagrant violation of democratic standards and principles, the human rights regulations, and a violation of international conventions and treaties.
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