Journos living dangerously

2004-01-09 11:17

Sydney - The Iraq war helped make 2003 a dangerous year for journalists with 91 killed, most of them covering conflict or corruption, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said in a statement here on Friday.

The fatalities were 23 percent higher than the previous year and took place in more than 25 countries, the federation said in a statement from its Australian-based president Christopher Warren.

Many were due to war, although assassinations and simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time were to blame in some cases, the statement said.

"The impact of war and conflict on the work of news media cast a long shadow over journalism in 2003," said Warren, who is also the federal secretary of Australia's Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance.

"War in Iraq, conflict in Columbia, violence in the Philippines left journalists dead in a year marked by growing anger within media circles over targeting of journalists," Warren said.

Two still missing

The IFJ said 18 journalists were killed in Iraq, not counting two - Fred Nerac and Hussein Osam - who are still missing and presumed dead in a skirmish near Basra in March.

It called for independent investigations into seven of the confirmed deaths in Iraq, cases which it said showed the need for greater protection of journalists in areas of conflict.

The IFJ also highlighted instances where journalists were targeted for trying to expose political corruption, such as the case of Alfonso Parada of the Columbian El Tempo who was shot by unknown gunmen in March 2003. He was known for reporting corruption.

Also targeted was Filipino radio journalist Juan Porras Pala, shot dead outside a friend's home in September, the IFJ said. Porras Pala presented a daily radio programme on local station DXGO that harshly criticised some local politicians and communist rebels.

Drug mafia, crime gangs

Seven journalists were killed in Columbia and three in the Philippines in 2003, with drug mafia and crime gangs the main suspects in many of these cases, it said.

The shooting in late December of Indonesian journalist Ersa Siregar in war-torn Aceh province prompted the IFJ to urge governments to be accountable for the safety of media workers by supporting independent international investigations for unexplained killings.

Siregar was accidentally shot dead by troops when he became caught up in a clash with separatist rebels.

"Journalism is the cornerstone of press freedom and we must ensure that there is a proper investigation every time one of our colleagues dies," Warren said. "Justice and democracy demand it."

The Brussels-based IFJ, which is the world's largest journalists' group with half a million members in 106 countries, said Siregar's death was one in a surge of killings at the years' end.

The IFJ has called for changes in international law to ensure that targeting journalists and neglecting to protect them are made war crimes.

- AFP