Syria: RSF calls for Bashar al-Assad to be prosecuted for the murder of 181 journalists since the 2011 revolution

Organisation: RSF_en

Since 2011, Bashar al-Assad and his allies killed more than 181 journalists because of their work. On the day of the regime's fall into the hands of the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on 9 December 2024, 23 journalists were imprisoned and ten went missing, including seven victims of enforced disappearances. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcomes the end of one of the most oppressive regimes in modern history, which caused Syria to come in 179th place out of 180 countries in the latest World Press Freedom Index. RSF demands justice for the journalists who were killed, injured, imprisoned, and disappeared. The country's future leaders must ensure a new era of press freedom.

Journalists were bombed by the Syrian army and its Russian allies while doing their job, targeted by government snipers, tortured, and murdered in Assad's prisons. The killings of 181 journalists by the Syrian regime and its supporters — 161 by regime forces and 17 in Russian airstrikes, according to RSF data — must not go unpunished.

In December, just days before the Assad regime's fall and its leader’s escape, Syrian armed forces tried to halt the advance of Idlib rebels, led by the Islamist armed group HTS, toward the capital, Damascus. Two reporters covering the clashes were killed by Syrian armed forces: Mustafa al-Kurdi, a journalist for the local outlet Focus Aleppo and a correspondent for Turkish public broadcaster TRT, and Anas Alkharboutli, a photojournalist for German news agency DPA.

“The brutal reign of the Assad dictatorship is over, and with it — hopefully — the violent repression of the press in Syria. With more than 180 journalists killed and executed by the regime and its allies since 2011, and with the imprisonment and torture of reporters in his prisons, Bashar al-Assad made Syria one of the worst countries in the world for media professionals, according to RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index. We demand that Bashar al-Assad be prosecuted for his crimes. Justice, long overdue, must finally be served for all victims of his abuses. We are also aware of the crimes committed by HTS against journalists: we call on HTS to hold their responsible members accountable, and to release all journalists still detained in the country, including those they have taken hostage. Syria’s future leaders, whoever they may be, must ensure the safety of journalists and allow a free press to flourish.”

Jonathan Dagher, Head of RSF’s Middle East Desk.

RSF Confirms the Release of Two Journalists

On the day of the regime’s fall, 9 December, 23 journalists were still imprisoned, and seven were victims of enforced disappearances — abducted to unknown locations by the Assad regime. For the vast majority, there is no evidence that they are still alive. Between the infamous Saydnaya prison, described as “hell on earth” by survivors, to the Mazzeh detention centre controlled by the Air Force intelligence services, few journalists have emerged alive. They have faced torture, deprivation of medical care, and secret executions after swift trials lasting mere minutes, according to testimonials gathered by RSF. Yet the flood of videos showing prisoners being freed has sparked renewed hope.

Since the regime’s collapse, rebels have started opening prisons. As of this writing, RSF has confirmed the release of Hanin Gebran, a journalist from Syria Media Monitor detained since June 2024, and blogger Tal al-Mallouhi, detained since 2009 for her work prior to the revolution. Both journalists have been free since 8 December, according to RSF’s information.

Six Journalists Killed by HTS

Various rebel groups and armed factions also contributed to the repression of reporters in the areas they controlled. Of the 283 journalists killed in Syria since 2011, HTS is accused of killing six between 2012 and 2019. The leader of the group, Abu Mohammed al-Joulani (born Ahmed Hussein al-Chareh), is also responsible for the abduction of eight journalists. Two of them were taken hostage in 2013 and 2015 by the jihadist group al-Nusra, founded by al-Joulani. In 2017, al-Nusra merged with other Islamist groups to form HTS, which took control of Idlib province, where it abducted six Syrian journalists between 2018 and 2021.

Several Kurdish reporters were also killed in airstrikes in northern Syria, most recently in August 2024, in attacks attributed to the Turkish military by Kurdish media. Meanwhile, the Islamic State, a radical Islamist group, assassinated 22 journalists in Syria between 2013 and 2017, according to RSF data. To date, it remains impossible to identify those responsible for the murders of 59 journalists.