ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq is facing one of its “most perilous” periods for press freedom since 2003, a human rights watchdog warned Sunday, citing growing legal and institutional pressure on journalists, activists, and critical voices.
“Iraq is undergoing one of the most perilous stages for freedom of the press and expression since 2003,” read a report by the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights (IOHR), an independent organization that says it is “present in all Iraqi provinces.”
Journalists in Iraq face legal challenges, threats, violence, and imprisonment because of their reporting, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which has also said Iraq’s media landscape remains deeply polarized along political lines with limited independent journalism.
The group, on World Press Freedom Day, said Iraq is shifting from “random violence” against journalists toward the “institutionalization of repression through laws, administrative decrees, and organized judicial prosecutions.”
According to the report, Iraq is facing a "systematic closure of the public sphere” that “involves state institutions, influential parties, and armed groups through legal, security, and media tools aimed at silencing critical voices and forcing journalists into self-censorship or total silence.”
“The reality of freedoms after the events of October 7, 2023, has witnessed a sharp and unprecedented decline, amid escalating campaigns of intimidation and harassment against journalists, activists, and bloggers, coinciding with an atmosphere of political and sectarian polarization,” it added.
Iraqi and Kurdish authorities have repeatedly faced criticism from international organizations and foreign missions over their treatment of journalists and restrictive measures imposed on the press.