The Association of Syrian Journalists and the Free Syrian Bar Association said that the Assad regime is still at the top of the list of those responsible for violations and crimes against journalists and media institutions in Syria from 2011 to the end of 2022, adding that Assad is the number one enemy of the press and journalists in Syria.
In a joint report issued on Tuesday, the associations said that they had documented at least 1,471 violations against media workers in Syria in the period between March 2011 and October 31, 2022. The report indicated that Assad regime was responsible for 621 violations and the death of 316 media workers out of 464 journalists who have been killed across Syria since 2011.
The report stressed that the violations against media workers have made Syria at the bottom of the press freedom index that Reporters Without Borders issues annually. It pointed out that Syria is ranked 171 out of 180 countries in terms of press freedoms, according to the latest index issued by the organization in 2022.
The report indicated that the Assad regime is ranked first in terms of the numbers of violations against foreign journalists, as it committed 21 violations out of a total of 74 violations committed in the reporting period.
The report also indicated that after more than 11 years of the bloody war in Syria, the families of the victims are still awaiting justice and mechanisms for holding to account perpetrators of violations against journalists.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
