The Syrian Center for Press Freedoms of the Association of Syrian Journalists on Thursday issued a special report detailing violations against journalists and media activists in besieged eastern Ghouta over the past seven years.
In a report issued under the title “Seven Years After the Start of the Syrian Revolution: Media Activists in Eastern Ghouta Under Siege And Bombardment,” the Center said it documented no fewer than 163 violations against media workers in Rural Damascus, 117 of which took place in eastern Ghouta.
According to the report, 55 journalists were killed in eastern Ghouta, 48 of whom were killed by the Assad regime. Five journalists were killed by militant groups and in attacks the Center said were untraceable.
As many as 426 journalists and media activists were killed in Syria in the period between March 2011 and February 2018, the report added.
According to the report, a total of 1,103 violations have been recorded in Syria since the beginning of the Syrian revolution in mid-March 2011 until the end of February 2018.
Assad regime forces were ranked first in terms of the violations in eastern Ghouta with 84 violations.
The report listed 28 cases of physical assaults against journalists in eastern Ghouta since 2011, in addition to 10 cases of detention and abduction of journalists by various parties to the conflict in Syria.
The Center went on to say that it had recorded at least 14 violations against media organizations in eastern Ghouta, 10 of which were committed by the Assad regime and four others by militant groups. The Center also documented 10 others violations of various types, including the issuance of threats, harassment, confiscation of property and issuance of arrest warrants in absentia.
The report included testimonies and eyewitness accounts of a number of media activists trapped inside eastern Ghouta who talked about the military campaign being launched by the Assad regime forces in the Damascus suburb. The onslaught has so far claimed the lives of thousands of civilians. They also talked about the difficulties they face while carrying out their work to convey the real picture of what is going on inside eastern Ghouta. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
