Two Media Workers Killed, Three Injured, and Three Arrested or Kidnapped in Syria, Documented in November 2018

ARK News: SNHR has released its report that documents violations against media workers by all parties to the conflict in Syria.

The report notes that all of the parties to the conflict have oppressed journalists and citizen journalists to varying extents, committing crimes qualifying as war crimes against them.

The Syrian regime, however, is the party who has perpetrated most of these crimes since March 2011, where the Syrian regime has been responsible for up to 83% as it waged a systematic war on media work, committing hundreds of violations against journalists and citizen journalists, including killing, arrest, and torture in an attempt to conceal the human rights violations that the Syrian people are being subjected to and hide the crimes against Syrian citizens.

According to the report, ISIS, factions from the armed opposition and Self-Management forces resorted to suppressing views as a policy in their areas of control as seen by the wide arrests they made.

The report records that 24 media workers have been killed since the start of 2018, including two media workers were killed in November by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.

Also, the report documents that three media workers were injured in November, including one at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, and two by other parties.

In addition, the report documents one case of an arrest at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, and two cases of arrest and release, one by factions from the armed opposition, and one by other parties.

The report calls on the OHCHR to condemn the targeting of media workers in Syria and shed light on their sacrifice and suffering. In addition, the report calls on the COI and the IIIM to launch investigations on the targeting of media workers specifically, considering their integral role in recording incidents in Syria, as the report emphasizes that SNHR is willing to cooperate and provide more pieces of evidence and data.

Additionally, the report calls on the Security Council to fight impunity policies by referring to the case in Syria to the International Criminal Court.

Moreover, the report calls on the Arabic and international media institutions to support their colleagues in the field of media by publishing periodic reports that shed light on their daily suffering and memorialize their sacrifice. Also, they should contact their families to console them.

Finally, the report stresses that all parties have to respect the international humanitarian law in their areas of control with respect to the protection of civilians and especially media workers and their equipment.

Source: Syrian Human Rights Network

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