Öykü Altuntaş / Istanbul, Oct 29 () - Journalists and other media workers have been targeted by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq (ISIL) and 48 journalists were abducted and at least 13 of them were executed in Mosul, urged Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and its partner organization in Iraq, the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory (JFO).
The devastating report of the watchdogs on media freedom in Mosul shows while some of the kidnap victims have been released, but there has been no news of 10 other professional and non-professional journalists held by ISIL.
According to the report, a total of 60 journalists and media workers have fled the city.
"Geneva Convention should be respected"
The joint statement of the RSF and JFO also called parties to the war in Iraq to step up and respect the journalists within the Geneva Conventions:
“We remind all parties to the war in Iraq that they are required by UN Security Council Resolution 2222 of 2015 and the Geneva Conventions to respect journalists, and we reiterate our appeal to the Security Council to refer the situation in Iraq to the International Criminal Court in order combat impunity for crimes of violence against journalists” said Alexandra El Khazen, the head of RSF’s Middle East and Maghreb desk.
Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul has fallen to IS on June 10, 2014, which blocked to way of independent media activity in the region as media outlets have been taken over and are now used to put out the jihadi group’s message.
