Pressure on media activists increases as water crisis deepens in Baneh

Hengaw — Friday, November 28, 2025

As the water crisis in Baneh worsens and multi-day outages continue, security agencies have banned journalists and media activists from publishing any reports about the situation. They have also threatened several individuals in an effort to suppress public information, even as water cuts in some neighbourhoods have exceeded 72 hours.

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, pressure on journalists and administrators of local news pages in Baneh has intensified in recent days. Several of them have received threatening phone calls and have also been summoned in person and ordered to stop reporting on the ongoing water shortage.

A source familiar with the situation stated that during these summonses, security forces accused media activists of “disturbing public opinion” and warned that continued reporting on the water crisis would result in judicial and security action.

The source added that security agents have coerced those summoned into signing written commitments pledging not to publish any coverage related to the water crisis.

These pressures persist while residents of Baneh continue to face widespread disruptions in access to drinking water and protest the lack of transparent information and the authorities’ failure to address their concerns.