This annual report is only evidence of the association’s effort and endeavor to bring the suffering of Syrian journalists to relevant forums with the intent of making a positive impact that will bring change to Syria so that we eventually reach an independent press in a free country.
March 15, 2022
Source: Syrian Journalists Association
The year 2021 was not different from the previous years. It was full of proofs concerning the riskiness linked to work in the Media field, and the worst repression in the world against Media workers as it looks.
We in SCJF being a part of SJA could document plenty of violations that allow us to describe Syria as a huge journalism prison with several jailers as a realistic description.
The difference between the painful obvious and continuous suffering journalism in Syria till present and other parts of the world is that all the parts who controlled separated areas of Syria geography dealt with Media in the same way, they all wanted to monopolize and use Media to be their tools to Perpetuate tyranny and authoritarianism. It seems that all tormentors are almost alike, they all fear free word and their policy is to make people believe what they want them to get.
Their ways don’t stop at pursuing anyone who publishes what they don’t approve, it goes to control all the Media environment including any union or institution they did not establish according to their standards. They simply won’t allow free professional or independent Media.
This would not be all, these authorities insist on lowering all indicators by which media freedom is measured. There is no freedom in obtaining information, nor are there laws and legislations that guarantee the independence of the media or guarantee the freedom of journalists in their work. Any coverage or media activity must go under their consent and with permission of the military or a civilian run by the military.
But despite all these obstacles there are still some who deal with professionalism and honesty of their job, who work hard to convey the truth to public opinion and keep trying to open a window to the light. And for those and also for Syria we dream of, SJA, which celebrated its 10th anniversary just a while ago, keeps working on documenting all kinds of violations against media in Syria, advocating the victims of truth and supporting media workers regardless of their diverse identity.
This annual report is only evidence of the association’s effort and endeavor to bring the suffering of Syrian journalists to relevant forums with the intent of making a positive impact that will bring change to Syria so that we eventually reach an independent press in a free country.
In this report SCJF reviews the violations committed against Media in Syria in the year 2021 in comparison with the previous years. It includes graphs and infographics illustrating those violations in terms of (numbers, gender, geographical distribution and the parties responsible of committing them), as well as the names of the journalists who are still in detention and enforced disappearance.
Thus, we put a reference in the hands of those interested, that enables them to analyze the media reality and developments in Syria, negatively and positively, hoping that this will be a contribution to finding solutions that guarantee stopping or at least minimizing these violations, as well as to remind the whole world of the importance of the principle that Criminals should not go unpunished for their crimes.
To read the report in PDF,
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