Rights Report: 18 Syrian-Palestinian Journalists Dead Since Start of Syrian Revolution

Despite the fact that many Palestinians, journalists and else, have been killed and are arrested by the regime, the Palestinian authorities have remained silent, an activist group is claiming

The Action Group for Palestinians of Syria, based in London, has announced that it has observed the killing and arrest of dozens of Palestinian journalists after their participation in reporting the truth in Palestinian camps and districts.

Regarding the Palestinian journalists in Syria who were victims, the rights group said in a report issued on the occasion of the “International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists” on November 2, that it was able to document the names of 18 journalists who had died in the various parts of Syrian territory during media coverage of the events. It noted that the facts on the ground indicated that the actual number of dead was much larger but (recording them was not possible) “given the circumstances which surround the arrest or death notifications, or the difficulty of accessing official registries, in addition to the consequent responsibilities for the families of the victims,” according to the report.

The Action Group, which is active secretly in Syria through a network of correspondents and rights activists on the ground, said in its report that nine of the journalists were killed by bombardment, five were killed under torture, and four were killed by snipers and during clashes.

The Action Group pointed to the deaths of five media activists under torture in the Syrian regime’s prisons: The photographer Neraz Saeed, Khalid Bakrawi, the director Hassan Hassan, the activist Alaa Al-Naji, all of whom were from the Yarmouk camp, and the journalist Bilal Ahmed, from the town of Muadimiyat Al-Shaam.

The Action Group said in the report that a number of media activists, journalists and writers were still imprisoned in the Assad regime’s prisons with an unclear fate. It said these included: The writer Ali al-Shihabi, the journalists Muhannad Omar and Rami Hajjou — the latter a cameraman for the Al-Quds satellite channel — as well as the media activists Ali Muslah and Ahmed Jalil, who are residents of the Khan al-Sheikh camp.

The group’s report also said that there were incidents of Palestinian journalists killed or targeted which did not see any official Palestinian reaction or serious demands for the perpetrators to be brought to justice on charges. This was a reference to the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian groups and de facto authorities in Ramallah and Gaza.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.

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