CPJ Calls on Syria’s New Leaders to End Impunity and Protect Journalists

December 11, 2024 – Syria –

Following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has issued a powerful call urging Syria’s new leadership to prioritize press freedom, protect media workers, and ensure accountability for years of systemic persecution. With Assad’s fall marking a potential turning point, CPJ stresses that the opportunity must not be squandered.

Under Assad’s 13-year crackdown on dissent, Syria became one of the world’s deadliest countries for journalists. CPJ reports that at least 141 journalists have been killed since 2011, including 23 targeted killings and at least six who died in government custody. Syria consistently ranked atop CPJ’s Global Impunity Index, reflecting the regime’s refusal to investigate or prosecute those responsible for attacks on the press.

In its December 11 statement, CPJ called on the new Syrian authorities to establish immediate safeguards for journalist safety, guarantee open access to all areas of the country, and dismantle laws that criminalize reporting. The organization also demanded justice for the victims of media persecution, including the prosecution of officials, military leaders, and intelligence operatives implicated in murders, detentions, and censorship.

The post-Assad transition has already seen the release of Tal al-Mallohi, a Syrian blogger imprisoned since 2009. CPJ hailed her release as a hopeful sign and urged the new leadership to locate and free other missing journalists, including Austin Tice, an American reporter abducted near Damascus in 2012 and long believed to be in state custody.

CPJ’s Program Director, Carlos Martinez de la Serna, emphasized that protecting journalists is essential to Syria’s democratic rebirth. He warned that without structural reforms and meaningful prosecutions, the culture of fear and silence will persist, regardless of who governs.

As foreign and local reporters rush to document Syria’s unfolding transition, CPJ stresses that their safety must be a national priority. The new government’s response will signal whether it is committed to reversing decades of repression or simply repeating it under a new flag. The moment offers rare hope, but also a test of political will: to end impunity, uphold press freedom, and allow truth to thrive in a country long silenced by war and tyranny.

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CPJ calls on new Syrian leaders to protect journalist safety, hold Assad’s media persecutors to account