CPJ called on UN’s Forced Disappearance Committee for urgent intervention in the case of journalist Sulayman Ahmet, held by the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) security forces for 190 days without communication.
Human rights organisations have escalated their calls for the Iraqi Kurdish government to disclose the whereabouts of Syrian journalist Sulayman Ahmed, arrested on 25 October 2023. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the MENA Rights Group (MRG) filed an urgent action request to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances on 12 April 2024, seeking intervention.
Sulayman Ahmed, associated with the news outlet RojNews, was detained while crossing into Iraq’s Kurdistan Region from Syria after a family visit. Since his arrest, the details of any charges against him or his current location remain undisclosed.
“This situation places Sulayman Ahmed among the three journalists currently imprisoned in Iraqi Kurdistan, as per the latest data from CPJ,” a spokesperson from CPJ highlighted.
Sulayman Ahmed, the Arabic Service Editor of Rojnews, was detained by KDP forces at the Pêşxabûr (Sêmalka) Border Crossing on October 25 while returning from visiting his family in Aleppo, Rojava, to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Since then, there has been no news from Ahmed for 190 days.