The 11 journalists added to the memorial this year include Saad Ahmad and Mihemed Hisen Reşo who were killed by a Turkish airstrike in northern Syria last year.
On Monday, May 4, 2020, the Freedom Forum added the stories of 11 men and women to its Journalists Memorial to represent all journalists who died or were killed while reporting the news in 2019.
The Freedom Forum’s Journalists Memorial honors journalists who lost their lives in the pursuit of truth. The 11 journalists who died in 2019 are now part of the memorial’s database, which tells the stories of 2,355 reporters, photographers, broadcasters and other media workers who died while reporting news and information, dating back to 1837.
The 11 journalists added to the memorial this year include Saad Ahmad and Mihemed Hisen Reşo who were killed by a Turkish airstrike that hit a civilian convoy in northern Syria on 13 October 2019. The convoy was traveling between the northern Syrian towns of Qamishli and Serekaniye (Ras al-Ain). Twelve civilians were killed in the attack, while 73 others, eight of them journalists, were injured.
Saad Ahmad, a Kurdish reporter for the local news agency Hawar News (ANHA) lost his life at the scene. Another Kurdish journalist, Mihemed Hisen Reşo from the Yazidi television station Çira TV, who also worked for the Kurdish television station Stêrk TV, succumbed to his injuries one day later.
The injured journalists included ANF (Fırat News Agency) correspondent Ersin Çaksu, Emre Yunis of Stêrk TV, Dilsoz Dildar of North Press Agency, freelance journalists Bircan Yıldız, Rojbin Ekin, Abdreşid Mihemed Mihemed, Rudaw correspondent Hûner Ehmed, and ANHA correspondent Mehmet Ekici.
The journalists recognized by the Freedom Forum’s Journalists Memorial this year include:
In Ghana: Ahmed Hussein-Suale Divela, Tiger Eye Private Investigations
In Haiti: Néhémie Joseph, Radio Panic FM, Radio Mega
In Honduras: Leonardo Gabriel Hernández, Valle TV
In Iraq: Hisham Fares Al-Adhami, Freelance
In Mexico: Norma Sarabia Garduza, Tabasco Hoy, Diario Presente
In Syria: Saad Ahmad, Hawar News Agency (ANHA)
Mohammed Hussein Rasho, Cira TV
In Ukraine: Vadym Komarov, Dzvin Ukraine
In the United Kingdom: Lyra McKee, Freelance
In the United States: Carley McCord, Freelance, WDSU-TV
Nancy Parker, WVUE FOX 8
