RSF calls for former Syrian president to be brought to justice for murder of 181 journalists since 2011

The NGO also denounces the participation of “different rebel groups and armed factions” in “the repression of reporters in the area they controlled”. Among them is the radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) asked on Tuesday October 10 to “bring Bashar al-Assad to justice for the murder of 181 journalists since the 2011 revolution”also expressing concern about the fate of those currently detained in Syria, in a press release. The NGO announces, however, that since the fall of the former president on Sunday, “two journalists are free”, “according to [ses] informations” : “Hanin Gebran, Syria Media Monitor journalist detained since June 2024” et “blogger Tal al-Mallouhi, detained since 2009 for her work before the revolution”.

According to the NGO, 181 journalists were “killed by the Syrian regime and its supporters – 161 by regime forces and 17 by Russian bombings”of the “murders” Who “must not go unpunished.” “With more than 180 journalists killed and executed by the regime and its allies since 2011, with the imprisonment and torture of reporters in its jails for years, Bashar al-Assad and his allies have made Syria one of the worst countries in the world for media professionals, according to RSF's press freedom rankings in 2024”, declared, in this press release, Jonathan Dagher, head of RSF’s Middle East desk.

“We demand that Bashar al-Assad be tried for his crimes. That justice, which is long overdue, be served for all the victims of his abuses”he adds. Monday, “23 journalists were in prison, ten were missing, seven of whom were victims of forced disappearances, kidnapped in an unknown location by the Assad regime. For the vast majority of them, there is nothing to prove to date that they are still in prison. life”according to the organization.

Furthermore, RSF denounces the fact that “different rebel groups and armed factions also participated in the repression of reporters in the area they controlled”. The radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham “HTS is accused of having killed six between 2012 and 2019”says the NGO, asking to keep “responsible” the authors of these “crimes”. Others were also kidnapped or taken into “hostages” in recent years, according to Jonathan Dagher, who calls for “to the members of the HTS group” of “release all journalists detained in the country, including those they have held hostage”.