Kuwait City: Regional Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for the Middle East and North Africa, Mazen Shaqoura, stated that safeguarding journalists during armed conflicts is essential for protecting truth and human rights.
According to Kuwait News Agency, Shaqoura emphasized in a press statement on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day that media workers across the region face significant challenges, including intimidation, violence, arbitrary detention, and direct targeting. He highlighted a concerning rise in violations against journalists, particularly in areas such as Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Sudan, where many journalists have faced fatal or injurious attacks, forced disappearances, or unlawful detention.
Shaqoura made it clear that targeting journalists deliberately is a severe breach of international law, which ensures their protection as civilians. He voiced his concern over the legal limitations on freedom of expression in numerous countries, pointing out that criminalizing legitimate criticism, spreading fake news, and using anti-terrorism and cybercrime laws to silence dissent are methods employed to weaken media freedom.
He urged for definitive actions to guarantee the safety of journalists and to bolster the legal and institutional framework supporting media freedom. The OHCHR Representative underlined that freedom of expression is an inherent right, contributing to human dignity, accountability, and the realization of justice.
Shaqoura stated that World Press Freedom Day serves as a reminder to commit not only through words but through tangible actions that protect media freedom and journalists.