Hawar Abdulrazaq, BasNews (Sulaimaniyah):

Jan 15, 2014

The Kurdish Journalist Rights Organization (Metro Center) has released its annual report for 2013 on violations against journalists in the Kurdistan region over the last 12 months.

Metro reported that during the past year there have 193 registered cases of violations against 167 journalists across the Kurdistan region.

Metro said that the violations include death threats, arrests, harassment and the confiscation of journalist’s belongings.

“Our reports includes various violations against Kurdish journalists committed in 2013 throughout the region,” said Rahman Gharib, head of the Suliaymania based Metro Center.

According to the Kurdish Journalist Syndicate, violations against Kurdish journalists increased in 2013.

The most notable violation was the murder of journalist Kawa Germyani in December. A group of unknown gunman shot and killed Germyani in Kalar, a town located in northern Kurdistan. Germyani had been covering corruption cases involving local government and party officials.