Attacks on Iraqi journalists continue

The Death toll of Iraqi journalists rose to 272 as of last Thursday when an Iraqi media executive was killed in Baghdad.

Qassem Abdul Hussein, aged 36, was head of public relations and distribution for an Iraqi political daily newspaper. He was shot dead on March 13^th by an unknown gunman.

Sadly, this event doesn’t come as a shock to me. Iraq is home to countless journalist media killings and kidnappings, earning its title of being the most dangerous place for Journalists to work in. The fact that Hussein was shot doesn’t surprise me either (The most common cause of death from 1996-2006 was shooting-almost half of the overall number of deaths, according to the International News Safety Institute’s (INSI) report).

The International federation of journalists (IFJ) condemned his murder.“This latest death again shows the precarious security conditions that Iraqi media continue to face,” said the IFJ general secretary, Aidan White. “The Iraqi government must investigate this case and all the other attacks on journalists to prosecute those responsible and send the message that journalist can work freely and safely.”

Two weeks before Hussein was killed the President of the Iraqi Union of Journalists (INJ), Shihab Al-Timimi died after being a target of a shooting attack in Baghdad.

Last year 63 Iraqi journalists were killed. The majority died in ambushes set by unidentified armed groups.  WHY are so many Iraqi journalists being killed? The war on Iraq obviously comes to mind. Since the US-led invasion, many have lost their lives whilst on assignments. According to Reporters Without Borders, “the political or ethnic affiliation of the media outlets they work for seems to link to the choice of most targets. Employees are exposed to the violence and hatred of groups that oppose their employers’ affiliation.” But other than that, the motives of killers remain unknown because of a lack of serious investigations-a shortage, which by the way, echoes in many other countries around the world.

 

Justice? What Justice?

What IS being done about these media killings and the perpetrators? Not much according to research led by free press organizations and journalist safety supporters such as the International News Safety Institute (INSI).

In many countries around the world killers of journalists have remained unidentified. Let’s take Sri Lanka for example, which has been described as one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists. Since August 2005, 11 media workers have been killed in Sri Lanka. Ten of them were killed in government-controlled areas and no one has been brought to justice in connection with the killings.

In Philippines, where the court case of the 2004 murder of Filipino broadcaster Herson Hinolan took place last week, such killings are common. According to research carried out by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 17 out of 22 journalists murdered from 2000-2005 were radio commentators like Hinolan and no convictions have been made for these crimes. CPJ research also found that finding witnesses to testify for the prosecution in the cases is a difficulty.These attacks against journalists remained unsolved leading to fears that media freedom is being held back through death threats, kidnappings and attacks.

A shocking news media safety report by the International News Safety Institute (INSI) highlights the absence of proper investigations when journalists are killed. The report contains details of the deaths of journalists and media workers from 1996 to 2006. They discovered that 1000 journalists and media workers have died whilst working around the world between 1996 and 2006-two journalists a week. In two thirds of cases, the killers were not identified.

The graphs below come from the INSI report. They are the statistics which I found to be the most important and most shocking, merely because of the vast number of deaths and the proven lack of justice!

 

“172 journalists around the world killed last year”

Journalists’ first obligation is to the truth. However, for journalists, searching for the truth has a high price which has only come to our attention within the recent years.

While pursuing their careers, many journalists receive death threats. Many have lost their lives through assassinations and some have been killed in war zones.

Last year for the third year running, the International Federation for Journalists (IFJ) reported a shockingly high number of deaths of journalists and media staff. In 2007, the total of journalists killed came up to 172, again dominated by the number of Iraqi journalists in a war that has now accounted for more than 250 media killings. With this in mind, it’s easy to see why the release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston after being held hostage by Palestinian extremists last March gave light in an otherwise bleak year for journalism.

After Iraq, Philippines is said to be the second most dangerous place for journalists to work thanks to its terrible press freedom and journalist safety situation. Many were murdered for reporting on government corruption. As a Filipino journalism student, I can’t help but feel a tad discouraged. Hopefully I’ll develop the same attitude as those surviving journalists who believe that it is not bravery that motivates them to find the truth, but a sense of duty. The governments, on the other hand, have a duty to do more to protect journalists and with the deaths of journalists rising, they must act now.

Yes, like everyone else journalists are just doing their job, however the major risk which comes with the job seems to be less acknowledged…and perhaps less important.