U.N. criticises Iraq's Kurdistan on press freedom

Source: Reuters

By Yara Bayoumy

BAGHDAD, April 25 (Reuters) - Journalists in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region face arrest and harassment for reporting on government corruption and poor public services, the United Nations said in a human rights report on Wednesday.

The United Nations also criticised Kurdish officials for failing to tackle frequent cases of "honour killings" of women and said hundreds of detainees in Kurdish prisons were being held without charge.

Kurds promote Kurdistan as one corner of Iraq that is relatively stable, in contrast to the rest of the country that is engulfed in sectarian violence between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunnis. Drawing on that image, Kurdistan plans to build a $400 million "media city" for international organisations.

While most journalists' deaths in Iraq took place in Baghdad, the human rights report on Iraq said most arrests of journalists it recorded between January and March were carried out by the Kurdish security forces.

"The (Kurdish) authorities continued to subject journalists to harassment, arrest and legal actions for their reporting on government corruption, poor public services or other issues of public interest," the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said.


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