Action Group | Syria
On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, the Action Group for Palestinians of Syria has documented the deaths of 18 Palestinian journalists at the hands of the former Syrian regime since the outbreak of protests in March 2011.
The Group stated that these journalists were killed while covering events across various regions of Syria, having been deliberately targeted by the former regime through indiscriminate shelling, arrests, and torture.
Saeed Suleiman, Media Officer at the Action Group, said:
“Palestinian journalists in Syria paid a heavy price for reporting the truth. They faced enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killing without any accountability for the perpetrators. The Syrian regime did not only suppress Syrian journalists but also targeted Palestinian media workers who were documenting its violations.”
Suleiman added that “the lack of international oversight regarding the former regime’s abuses against journalists contributed to a continued culture of impunity,”calling on “the new Syrian leadership to pursue and prosecute those responsible among the former regime’s figures for these crimes.”
According to the Group’s reports, the list includes journalists and media workers, some of whom also engaged in humanitarian relief efforts.
The Action Group has repeatedly called on the United Nations and human rights organizations to launch urgent investigations into the targeting of Palestinian journalists in Syria, stressing that such violations constitute war crimes under international law.
The Group also urged for the protection of journalists operating in conflict zones and for safeguards ensuring they are not subjected to arrest or killing because of their work.
This announcement comes on the first World Press Freedom Day following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, as violations against journalists continue in other parts of the world””particularly in Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed over 200 journalists.