CPJ report slams culture of impunity

For journalists across the world, last year was the deadliest in more than a decade, according to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which monitors violations of press freedom. Launching its annual report, "Attacks on the Press," at a news conference held in the United Nations building on Feb. 4, the group charged that governments in many countries were becoming increasingly hostile to journalists. "There has been no prosecution in 85 percent of cases," said Dave Marash, a noted television journalist. "This is creating a very dangerous situation for journalists." CPJ urged UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to press member countries to respect press freedom. "He must send a signal to member states against impunity," Marash added. CPJ research shows that as many as 65 journalists were killed last year for motives directly connected to their work. These numbers are up from 56 deaths recorded last year. The group is still investigating another 22 deaths to determine whether they were work-related. According to CPJ, 1994 was the worst year, when as many as 66 journalists were killed. Most of those who died that year were working in conflict zones such as Algeria, Bosnia and Rwanda. The report describes Iraq as the "deadliest" country in the world for the press. For the fifth straight year, Iraq remains the most dangerous place for media workers. Its 31 victims account for nearly half of the 2007 toll. The group said many journalists who lost their lives in Iraq, including Washington Post reporter Salih Aldin, who died in Baghdad from a single gunshot wound to the head, were victims of targeted killings. The analysis shows that 24 deaths in Iraq last year were plain "murders." Unidentified gunmen, suicide bombers, and U.S. military activity pose serious risks to journalists. All but one of 31 journalists killed were Iraqi nationals. According to CPJ, the 2007 toll in Iraq is "consistent" with that of 2006, when 32 journalists died. The report describes Somalia as the second-deadliest country for the media in 2007, with seven journalists killed. "Horrific violence in Iraq overshadowed the increasingly deteriorating environment for the media in Somalia," said CPJ's executive director Joel Simon. According to CPJ, deaths spiked in Africa, from two in 2006 to 10 last year. In 2007, two journalists were killed in Eritrea and one in Zimbabwe. "While accepting accolades from Western donors, repressive leaders in Ethiopia, the Gambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have cracked down on critical media, shuttering newspapers and putting journalists in jail," the report says. Beneath the terrible numbers, the group's research also shows some positive developments. There were no murders of journalists in Colombia -- the first time in more than 15 years. Also, for the first time since 1999, there were no work-related killings of journalists in the Philippines. Worldwide, according to CPJ, murder remains the leading cause of work-related deaths for journalists. The group said seven in 10 deaths which occurred in 2007 were murders. The rest were either combat-related deaths or a result of dangerous assignments. Last November, CPJ launched a global campaign against impunity to seek justice in journalist murders. The campaign focuses on the Philippines and Russia, two of the deadliest countries for the press over the past 15 years. Despite recent convictions in both countries, the impunity rate in each remains at about 90 percent. "Unsolved killings spread fear and self-censorship, crippling the work of the media," said Simon. "We need to break the cycle by bringing the killers of journalists to justice." In every region of the world, journalists who produced critical reporting or covered sensitive stories were silenced, said Simon, noting that in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, five journalists were killed for their work. In Pakistan, Muhammad Arif of ARY and two other journalists lost their lives as a result of suicide bombings. The report recalls how millions of people around the globe watched the apparently deliberate murder of Japanese photographer Kenji Nagai by Burmese troops during the crackdown on antigovernment demonstrators in Rangoon. No apparent moves have been made to bring his killer to justice. It also mentions the assassination of Turkish-Armenian editor Hrant Dink outside his newspaper office in Istanbul, which sent shock waves through the Turkish press and the international community. In Kyrgyzstan, ethnic Uzbek journalist Alisher Saipov was shot and killed at close range, and in Peru, popular radio commentator Miguel Pérez Julca was gunned down in front of his family. Nepal, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Haiti, Honduras, and Russia also made the list of places with journalist fatalities . Five journalists are classified as missing, three of them in Mexico. The 350-page report documents hundreds of cases of media repression in dozens of countries and regions, which include China, Russia, Central Asia, Latin America and the Arab world. "In all these countries, powerful figures have developed a wide range of innovative approaches that accumulatively represent a soft authoritarianism that is spreading in many regions of the world," said Simon. The research shows that the rate of imprisonment of journalists is also on the rise. Before the 2001 terror attacks on the United States, it was 81, but since then the annual average has been around 129. Simon and his colleagues said they believe that increased international pressure could help effect a change in the behavior of repressive governments, many of which escape legal repercussions for attacks on the press. "Impunity is the single threat facing journalists today," said CPJ board member and CNN international correspondent Christiane Amanpour. "Murder, after all, is the ultimate form of censorship."