After the killing of a KNN reporter on December 1 and a radio employee on December 6, Kirkuk Press Union administrator Fuad Osman evaluated the hardships journalists face in South Kurdistan to ANF.

‘NOBODY HAS THE RIGHT TO OBJECT OR DEMAND’

Osman emphasized the importance of understanding the current context of the Kurdistan region in order to understand the attacks targeting journalists, and said that both journalists and the people in general do not have the right to object, demand, or protest. Osman said "Teachers, public employees and other civilians demand their rights. Journalists try to make the voice of the people heard. Therefore, they are targeted more."

‘YOU ARE FORCED TO SIDE WITH A POLITICAL CAMP’

Osman said that there is no freedom of expression or opinion in Kurdistan region or in Iraq, and journalists are forced to side with a political camp due to the current political environment, where journalists work in dangerous conditions and end up massacred.

‘INTELLECTUAL LEVEL DECLINES AS MORE JOURNALISTS ARE KILLED’

In his statement, Osman emphasized that the massacre of journalists violates the freedom of thought and reduces the intellectual level of the region. Osman recalled that there used to be tens of newspapers, journals and radios in Kirkuk but now there is only one newspaper left. Many journalists are reported to have quit their profession due to the targeting of the free press.

Osman underlined that journalists are targeted more as the conflict between political parties deepens, and journalists are forced to take sides or are faced with death threats and assassinations.

‘JOURNALISTS ARE THE EASIEST TARGETS’

Fuad Osman recalled that journalists were also targeted during the 1990s when political parties fought against one another, and the only people that demanded justice for massacred journalists were their families, who were mostly unable to achieve anything out of a fear of being targeted. Osman noted that journalists do not have much chance against those that hold political and economical power, and are forced to function as the slaves of political parties.

‘WHEN PERPETRATORS ARE NOT FOUND, PEOPLE THINK IT WAS THE GOVERNMENT’

Kirkuk Press Union administrator Fuad Osman said that tens of journalists have been killed because they refused to be controlled by political parties, and none of the perpetrators have been found; which makes people think that it was the government behind the murders. Osman said "People praise the struggle of Asayish, police and security forces against ISIS, but the silence on the massacre of journalists raises questions. Only in Kirkuk 11 journalists have been shot so far, journalists across South Kurdistan are pressured on a daily basis. We haven’t witnessed the identification of a single perpetrator so far."