Impunity condemned on second anniversary of Kurdish journalist’s murder

More than 50 journalists gathered in Sulaymaniyah’s Naly Park at 6 p.m. yesterday to pay tribute to journalist Soran Hama Mama on the second anniversary of his death. A Reporters Without Borders representative who is currently on a fact-finding visit to Iraqi Kurdistan took part in the demonstration. The journalists and Mama’s relatives accused the local authorities of showing no interest in shedding any light on his murder. The gathering was addressed by Ahmed Mira, the editor of Lvin (the independent newspaper for which Mama worked); Rabin Herbi, a well-known intellectual; Defaw Hamid, a journalist; Abdul Samad Jabar, a member of Mama’s family; and Judit Neurink, the head of the Independent Kurdish Media Centre. The family of recently-slain journalist Sardasht Osman also attended. Osman was kidnapped on 4 May in Erbil and was found dead two days later in Mosul (http://en.rsf.org/irak-second-journalist-killed-in-iraqi-06-05-2010,37397.html). Mama, 23, was gunned down outside his home in Rasheed Awa, a northern suburb of Kirkuk, on the evening of 21 July 2008. Colleagues said he had received death threats in connection with articles he had written on sensitive subjects. A total of 66 Kurdish journalists signed a petition to the Kurdish authorities condemning his murder shortly after it took place, while an editorial in Lvin urged the regional government to accept that it had a duty to ensure that it did not go unpunished. An independent fortnightly created in 2001, Lvin often carries stories about local corruption. The last issue published before Mama’s murder included an article by him implicating Kurdish officials in several prostitution cases.