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By the Editors: The Kurdistan Tribune (KT) came under a massive ‘distributed denial of service’ (DDOS) attack last night, forcing the site offline for about 12 hours. This was not the first cyber atack on KT but it was the biggest to date. Our hosts – a major internet provider – say it was exceptionally…
By a Kurd in Washington: Dear KT, Is it possible that Kurdish journalists in the Kurdistan Region could request that the Ministry of Peshmerga allows a few Kurdish journalists to be embedded with the Kurdish reinforcements which will be deployed in Kobane? This is extremely important as they can report to the world how heroically the…
By Amy L. Beam, Ed.D: On Oct. 9, Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Lutfi Elvan Elvan stated that Twitter withheld “provocative tweets against Turkey’s national security” during the recent protests. “We faced tweets that threatened our national security, unfortunately provoking some of our citizens and even inviting others, like terrorist groups, to…
Statement by Reporters Without Borders: Reporters Without Borders condemns Payam TV presenter Ayhan Saeed’s severe beating by unidentified assailants in Dohuk, in northern Iraqi Kurdistan, on the night of 27 July and calls on the Kurdistan Regional Government to conduct an independent investigation, one that does not rule out the possibility of a link to…
By Aras Ahmed Mhamad: The brutal murder of Dunya, the 15-year-old bride child, by her 45-year-old husband in the city of Duhok created uproar in the streets of the Kurdistan region. The photos uploaded onto social media websites show the mutilation of Dunya’s body. Her mother says that she took photos that show her genitals…
By Kamal Chomani: This is the text of a speech today by independent journalist Kamal Chomani to a meeting held at the Swedish Parliament about human rights and press freedom, organised by Swedish MP Amine Kakabaveh, the 17th February Group and the NINA center: Thank you so much for this honor. I feel terribly humbled to address…
KT News: Independent journalist Kamal Chomani and Kurdish women’s activist Halal Rafe are to address a meeting at the Swedish parliament next week to discuss freedom of expression and women’s rights in the Kurdistan Region. Officials from the Swedish foreign ministry and the foreign relations departments of five political parties are expected to attend the session. Bookmark…
By Karlos Zurutuza: Dear Editorial Staff, I would like to publicly apologize to Mr Massoud Hamid for claiming that he wrote this statement which Reporters Without Borders published on 1 May. In a previous letter, I identified Mr Hamid as the author of the statement, which deals with alleged abuses against Syrian news providers in…
By David Meseguer: Like other colleagues, I also read the Reporters without Borders report dated 1st May on abuses against fellow reporters in Syria´s northeast and I´d also like to comment on the issue as I’ve been reporting from the ground since the beginning of the conflict in March 2011. First of all, I would like to stress…
By Peace in Kurdistan: Reporters Without Borders (RSF), one of the world’s leading media freedom organisations, reported last week that it has recorded a ‘growing number of abuses’ by the PYD against reporters and journalists working in Rojava. They allege that the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the local security forces (Asayish) have been perpetrating…
Report by the Committee to Protect Journalists: We are re-publishing here some extracts from the Committee to Protect Journalist’s (CPJ) comprehensive special report, released today and written by Namo Abdulla. You should also download the CPJ report in full Background “Iraqi Kurdistan may seem calm compared with much of the Middle East, but the media…
KT News: PUK-controlled security forces have detained two journalists in Sulaimaniyah this week. Hoshiyar Abdullah, manager of the KNN TV channel has been detained in the Serchinar district in Sulaimaniyah city. ‘Awene’ reports that his arrest relates to a KNN TV report about a Iranian Kurdistan Democratic party (KDPI) official. Hoshiyar, an election candidate for Gorran, was…
By Ruwayda Mustafah Rabar: There is a general sense of ‘fear’ among journalists, especially young journalists, about criticising political parties, whether it is the ruling parties or political parties with influential status. Recently, the case of Kawa Garmiyani became a sad reminder of how censorship in Kurdistan can lead to intimidation, and eventually the killing…
By Rozh Ahmad: The Kurdish public is angry that the authorities are not pursuing a case against the political official accused of involvement in the murder of journalist Kawa Germyani. Kalar court has released Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Political Bureau member Mahmoud Sangawi – the prime suspect accused of having ordered the slaying of Kawa…
