Shafaq News- Al-Sulaymaniyah

The Metro Center for Journalists’ Rights and Advocacy on Monday called for faster action to hold those responsible for killing journalists in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) accountable, marking the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.

The center said several major cases —including the killings of journalists Soran Mama Hama, Sardasht Osman, Kawa Garmiyani, Wedat Hussein, and Abdul Sattar Taher Sharif— were closed without identifying those involved or the masterminds behind the crimes. It urged authorities to reopen the cases and bring those responsible to justice.

According to UNESCO data cited by Metro, 166 journalists were killed worldwide in 2025 and 2026, while six out of every seven journalist killings went unpunished. Metro also cited UN reports showing that more than 1,700 journalists were killed worldwide between 2006 and 2024, with nearly 90% of the crimes going unpunished.

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