Press Freedom
CPJ Updates
- Murders of journalists more than double worldwide
- Record number of journalists jailed worldwide
- Getting Away with Murder
- Covering police violence protests in the US
- Amid COVID-19, the prognosis for press freedom is dim. Here are 10 symptoms to track
- The Trump Administration and the Media
- About: The Trump Administration and the Media
- Trust deficit: About This Report
- Trust deficit: Guatemala’s new president must overcome skepticism to improve press freedom
Reporter Without Borders
- Censorship forces BBC to withdraw news show from Pakistani TV
- China : anti-corruption journalist sentenced to five years in prison
- RSF tallied 580 attacks against media in Brazil in 2020
- Threats against Russian media on eve of pro-Navalny demonstrations
- Less press freedom than ever in Egypt, 10 years after revolution
- France: RSF condemns Breton agribusiness lobby’s pressure on investigative reporter
- Indian reporter could be jailed for two years over four-year-old story
- Google experiments drop Australian media from search results

Iraq October 12, 2006
H.E. Nuri Kamal al-Maliki
Prime Minister
Republic of Iraq
c/o Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
1801 P Street, NW
Washington , DC 20036
Your Excellency:
We are horrified at the continuing carnage among journalists in Iraq , and dismayed by your government’s new laws infringing on freedom of the media. According to The New York Times, four journalists were killed in Iraq in September alone, bringing the total since the 2003 invasion to 130; and at least a dozen Iraqi journalists have been charged with offending public officials. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that at least three Iraqi journalists have served time in jail for writing articles that were considered criminally offensive.
Your new press restrictions, some of which repeat provisions in the penal code imposed by Saddam Hussein, include a jail sentence of up to seven years for anyone who “publicly insults” the government or a public official. Such laws are in clear violation of Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights; in addition, they deny the basic principles of democracy and undermine your country’s progress. As we wrote you this past May in congratulating you on your selection as Prime Minister, press freedom is not a luxury that can be indulged only when times are safe and life is tranquil. In fact, it is particularly important to encourage unfettered reporting of fact and dissenting opinion when democracy is endangered, since openness and transparency are among the best defenses against tyranny and terror.
Far too many Iraqi journalists have been killed and wounded while reporting on the conflict, often by American or Iraqi armed forces. While we know it is difficult to protect journalists in the heat of combat, we ask you to use your influence both within your government and in liaison with U.S. forces to persuade the military that journalists are not the enemy, and to work out a satisfactory system of recognizable signs and symbols that will identify and protect journalists in conflict situations.
Thank you for your attention. We hope you will reply.
Respectfully yours,
Larry Martz
Kevin McDermott
Co-chairmen, Freedom of the Press Committee
cc:
Jalal Talabani
President
Office of the President
Baghdad
Republic of Iraq
c/o Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
1801 P Street, NW
Washington , DC 20036
Zalmay Khalilzad
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq
U.S. Embassy – Baghdad , Iraq
c/o APO AE 09316
Said Shihab Ahmad
Charge d’Affaires
Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
1801 P Street, NW
Washington , DC 20036
Fax: (202) 462-5066
General George Casey
Commander, Coalition Task Force 7
Baghdad
Iraq
Fax: (703) 270-0270
Senator John Warner
Chairman, Senate Armed Services Committee
225 Russell Building
Washington, DC 20510
Fax: (202) 224-6295
Marshall Ingwerson
Managing Editor
The Christian Science Monitor
One Norway Street
Boston , MA 02115
Hassan Fatah Pasha
Editor
Iraq Today
hassan@iraq-today.net
Pierre Taillefer
Executive editor
Agence France-Presse
pierre.taillefer@afp.com
The News Editor
Al-Jazeera
editor@aljazeera.net
Baghdad
Iraq
Fax: (011.974) 442-6864
Mr. Waddah Khanfar, Managing Editor
Al-Jazeera
Qatar
Fax: (011.974) 488-5333