Bringing Democracy to the Middle East

Protests in Baghdad over US Raid: Journalists Call for Immediate Investigation

Hundreds of Iraqi journalists and activists held a sit-in today in front of the headquarters of the Iraqi Journalists’ Syndicate to protest the recent US raid against the union, UPI is reporting.

As reported on Iraqslogger, US forces stormed the syndicate’s headquarters in Baghdad on Monday evening. Troops ransacked offices, arrested 10 of the syndicate’s security guards and confiscated 10 computers and 15 small electricity generators destined for the families of killed journalists, according to a statement released by the International Federation of Journalists.

Ali `Uweid, deputy head of the press syndicate, said that the raid demonstrated “contempt for Iraqi Journalism and civil society organizations” and added that the syndicate would continue its protests until the guards were released and the property returned, reported Aswat al-Iraq, in Arabic.

The Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, an Iraqi watchdog that advocates for press freedom in the country released a statement demanding that the government immediately investigate, saying that “the ways that journalists have been targeted with desecrations have escalated in the last few days, without any response, the most recent occurrence being the raid on the journalists' syndicate on the part of US forces.”

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the world’s largest journalists’ organization said on Tuesday that the actions of the American forces were "outrageous and inexcusable" and is backing calls for a full investigation.

Read the rest here.