Three kidnapped journalists still held in Iraq
Organisation:
Reporters Without Borders is organising a week-long international campaign starting Tuesday 21 February in support of young US journalist Jill Carroll, her family and friends. On Sunday 26 February she will have been held hostage in Iraq for 50 days.
Reporters Without Borders is organising a week-long international campaign starting Tuesday 21 February in support of young US journalist Jill Carroll, her family and friends. On Sunday 26 February she will have been held hostage in Iraq for 50 days.
The world media is urged to make a joint appeal for her release and the two Iraqi journalists Rim Zeid and Marwan Khazaal, also held hostage in Iraq.
Reporters Without Borders activists launched the week by making a tour of major media offices in Paris in a special bus to lobby journalists and others about the plight of the three kidnap victims.
The media outlets visited were the radio and TV network RTL, Radio Monte Carlo and Radio France International, radio stations France Inter, France Info and France Culture, and TV stations TF1 and France 2 and 3.
The activists handed out tape recordings of Carroll's father Jim and twin sister Katie calling for her release, as well as new written material about the two Iraqi hostages. They also give out badges with the slogan “Free Jill Carroll” on a white background, the colour chosen by Reporters Without Borders for the campaign. Everyone was urged to wear a badge in solidarity with the hostages and publicise their case whenever they could.
The tape recordings, as well as photos of the Iraqi journalists, are available on the Reporters Without Borders website.
The efforts of everyone will be vital. If we really believe it is essential for journalists to be reporting in Iraq, it is our duty to step up action to save the lives of the three hostages.
All branches of Reporters Without Borders around the world will echo these efforts and invite the media in their countries to campaign for their release.
38 journalists and media assistants have been kidnapped in Iraq since fighting began there in March 2003. Eight of them have been women.
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02.11.06 - Jill Carroll's abductors said to have issued a new ultimatum of February 26
According to the Kuwaitian Al Rai-TV station, the armed group that has been holding Jill Carroll hostage in Iraq since January 7 has threatened to kill her if its demands are not met before February 26. The abductors of The Christian Science Monitor journalist are demanding the release of the Irakis who have been in prison since the military occupation by the Anglo-American coalition. Reporters without Borders heard the news with concern and vigilance. “A previous ultimatum made by her abductors against Jill Carroll was fortunately not carried out. However, we take this threat seriously in view of the very intense relations existing between Western and Middle Eastern countries at this time. We once again urge that every possible diplomatic effort be made to obtain the release of this innocent young journalist,” the organization declared. _______________________________________________________________________________ 02.09.06 - Airing of new Jill Carroll videotape: Reporters Without Borders calls for a renewed mobilization effort to obtain the journalist's release
Reporters Without Borders called once again for the release of journalist Jill Carroll following the airing of a new videotape on Thursday, February 9, by a Kuwaitian TV channel. The human rights organization is asking the abductors to release Jill Carroll as soon as possible, stressing the fact that, as a journalist, she is merely a neutral observer of the conflict. “We remind Carroll's kidnappers that she is a journalist who has just done her job, which is to describe the conditions in which Iraqis are living. She is not responsible for the US government's decisions.” “At least these disturbing images give us some proof that she is still alive, which is truly encouraging. However, that falls short of calming our concern and anguish over Jill Carroll's fate. The time has come to renew our mobilization effort. We urge members of the media around the globe-particularly those in the Arab world-as well as Muslim dignitaries, to continue to intervene on her behalf ," Reporters Without Borders declared. In a new videotape aired on Thursday, February 9, 2006, over Kuwaitian station Al Rai-TV, Jill Carroll appeared with her face veiled, and seemed calmer than in the images seen at the end of January. She asked that everything possible be done to satisfy the abductor's demands as quickly as possible, because “there is very short time left.” Carroll was seen veiled and weeping in a previous videotape aired on January 30 on the pan-Arab satellite TV station Al Jazeera. She appealed to her family, her colleagues and Americans throughout to world to ask the US military authorities and the Iraqi interior ministry to free all Iraqi women prisoners. The first videotape of Carroll was screened by Al Jazeera on January 17. Twenty seconds long and with no sound, it showed Carroll in a light grey sweat-shirt apparently talking to the camera. Only her face, neck and shoulders could be seen. Al Jazeera said her abductors, a hitherto unknown group calling itself the “Vengeance Brigade,” had threatened to kill her if all the female detainees in Iraq were not freed within 72 hours. The deadline passed without any news of Carroll. Carroll is a freelance reporter who has been writing for several Jordanian, Italian and US newspapers, including the Christian Science Monitor. She was kidnapped by gunmen at about 10 a.m. on January 7 in the west Baghdad neighbourhood of Adel, where she had gone to meet a Sunni politician, Adnan al-Doulaimi. The body of her interpreter, Allan Enwiyah, was found at the scene of the abduction. He had been shot dead. Thirty-seven media workers have been abducted since the start of the war in Iraq in March 2003. Five of the kidnap victims - four Iraqis and an Italian (Enzo Baldoni) - were killed by their abductors. The others were all released safe and sound. Twenty-three of these kidnappings have taken place in or near Baghdad. Carroll is the eight woman journalist to be kidnapped in Iraq. One, Iraqi national Raeda Wazzan, was killed by her abductors. The others were freed. Despite its name, the Boston-based Christian Science Monitor is not a religious newspaper. It is well known for the quality and thoroughness of both its domestic and international coverage.
According to the Kuwaitian Al Rai-TV station, the armed group that has been holding Jill Carroll hostage in Iraq since January 7 has threatened to kill her if its demands are not met before February 26. The abductors of The Christian Science Monitor journalist are demanding the release of the Irakis who have been in prison since the military occupation by the Anglo-American coalition. Reporters without Borders heard the news with concern and vigilance. “A previous ultimatum made by her abductors against Jill Carroll was fortunately not carried out. However, we take this threat seriously in view of the very intense relations existing between Western and Middle Eastern countries at this time. We once again urge that every possible diplomatic effort be made to obtain the release of this innocent young journalist,” the organization declared. _______________________________________________________________________________ 02.09.06 - Airing of new Jill Carroll videotape: Reporters Without Borders calls for a renewed mobilization effort to obtain the journalist's release
Reporters Without Borders called once again for the release of journalist Jill Carroll following the airing of a new videotape on Thursday, February 9, by a Kuwaitian TV channel. The human rights organization is asking the abductors to release Jill Carroll as soon as possible, stressing the fact that, as a journalist, she is merely a neutral observer of the conflict. “We remind Carroll's kidnappers that she is a journalist who has just done her job, which is to describe the conditions in which Iraqis are living. She is not responsible for the US government's decisions.” “At least these disturbing images give us some proof that she is still alive, which is truly encouraging. However, that falls short of calming our concern and anguish over Jill Carroll's fate. The time has come to renew our mobilization effort. We urge members of the media around the globe-particularly those in the Arab world-as well as Muslim dignitaries, to continue to intervene on her behalf ," Reporters Without Borders declared. In a new videotape aired on Thursday, February 9, 2006, over Kuwaitian station Al Rai-TV, Jill Carroll appeared with her face veiled, and seemed calmer than in the images seen at the end of January. She asked that everything possible be done to satisfy the abductor's demands as quickly as possible, because “there is very short time left.” Carroll was seen veiled and weeping in a previous videotape aired on January 30 on the pan-Arab satellite TV station Al Jazeera. She appealed to her family, her colleagues and Americans throughout to world to ask the US military authorities and the Iraqi interior ministry to free all Iraqi women prisoners. The first videotape of Carroll was screened by Al Jazeera on January 17. Twenty seconds long and with no sound, it showed Carroll in a light grey sweat-shirt apparently talking to the camera. Only her face, neck and shoulders could be seen. Al Jazeera said her abductors, a hitherto unknown group calling itself the “Vengeance Brigade,” had threatened to kill her if all the female detainees in Iraq were not freed within 72 hours. The deadline passed without any news of Carroll. Carroll is a freelance reporter who has been writing for several Jordanian, Italian and US newspapers, including the Christian Science Monitor. She was kidnapped by gunmen at about 10 a.m. on January 7 in the west Baghdad neighbourhood of Adel, where she had gone to meet a Sunni politician, Adnan al-Doulaimi. The body of her interpreter, Allan Enwiyah, was found at the scene of the abduction. He had been shot dead. Thirty-seven media workers have been abducted since the start of the war in Iraq in March 2003. Five of the kidnap victims - four Iraqis and an Italian (Enzo Baldoni) - were killed by their abductors. The others were all released safe and sound. Twenty-three of these kidnappings have taken place in or near Baghdad. Carroll is the eight woman journalist to be kidnapped in Iraq. One, Iraqi national Raeda Wazzan, was killed by her abductors. The others were freed. Despite its name, the Boston-based Christian Science Monitor is not a religious newspaper. It is well known for the quality and thoroughness of both its domestic and international coverage.
Published on
Updated on
20.01.2016
Middle East - North Africa
