SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed deep concern over the recent attacks on the Zoom News journalistic team in Halabja province by security forces.
In a statement, CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna urged Iraqi authorities to thoroughly investigate the incidents and ensure that security personnel are properly trained to interact with journalists.
On August 18, during a protest in the newly-formed Halabja province, local security forces, known as Asayish, assaulted Zoom News reporter Avin Atta and cameraman Zhiyar Kamil while they were covering the event.
The protest was staged by the family and relatives of a Kolbar—a semi-legal porter—who had been killed by Iraqi border guards near the Iraq-Iran border, specifically in the Hawraman region.
Atta reported that the security forces twisted her arm behind her back, dislocating her shoulder and wrist, after she refused to hand over their camera and microphone. The pair were released after the security forces reviewed their footage for more than an hour.
Avin Atta, Zoom News reporter in Halabja province, recounts how she and her cameraman were arrested by security forces while covering a protest in Khurmal district against the killing of a Kolbar by border guards. pic.twitter.com/GGhQq3LWZD
— Zoom News (@zoomnewskrd) August 19, 2024
CPJ noted that they did not receive a response to their request for comment sent via messaging app to Salam Abdulkhaliq, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region Security Agency.
