Baladi News – (Ahmad Abdul Haq)
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) documented the most prominent violations against media activists over the first half of 2017. According to its report, 26 media activists were killed, including 13 at the hands of Assad's regime, Whereas 3 were killed by the Russian forces, 4 by ISIS, and 6 by other parties.
The report also recorded the injury of 34 media workers, including 20, 4, 1 and 3 at the hands of the regime, Russia, ISIS, the military opposition, and other parties respectively. Five cases of arrest were also documented, including two women at the hands of the regime in the first half of 2017. In addition, Tahrir al-Sham group detained 7 who were released later. The opposition factions detained two media activist and also released them later, where as the Kurdish Self-Management released 2 out of 3 detained individuals. Three workers were abducted by unidentified parties, of whom 2 were released.
The report also documented the most prominent violations against media activists in June 2017. One media worker was killed and 5 others were wounded by the regime. Also, ISIS killed 3 and other parties killed 1. An assault was also perpetrated by Assad's regime forces against a media office.
The report called upon the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic to conduct investigations that focus on the targeting of media activists given their vital role in recording incidents in Syria.