(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is an IFJ media release: 62 Die as Assassins Target Journalists in 2000 The year 2000 has been marked by a series of assassinations and targeted murders of journalists that highlight the dangers facing reporters around the world, says the International Federation of Journalists, which today released its list of journalists […]
(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is an IFJ media release:
62 Die as Assassins Target Journalists in 2000
The year 2000 has been marked by a series of assassinations and targeted murders of journalists that highlight the dangers facing reporters around the world, says the International Federation of Journalists, which today released its list of journalists and media workers killed during the year.
According to the IFJ, 62 killings took place, many of them directed against media exposing corruption or expressing political dissent.
“The death toll speaks for itself – journalists risk their lives daily for expressing independent opinions and exposing wrongdoing,” said Aidan White, General Secretary of the IFJ. “In every corner of the world, journalists have paid a terrible price in the struggle for democracy.”
The IFJ welcomed a recent decision by a number of major media to adopt a Code of Conduct for Safety for their staff. “Media must do everything they can to create safe working conditions,” said the IFJ, which has published its own Code of Practice for the Safe Conduct of Journalism.
The IFJ’s report lists 37 journalists as having been killed as a result of their work, and details 20 cases as under investigation. The deaths of five media staff are also listed.
The Report highlights a number of dramatic examples of assassination: In Colombia, 9 journalists have been targeted by paramilitary in the country’s long-running civil conflict; in Spain, Jose Luis Lopez de la Calle, an outspoken critic of the terrorist group ETA, was shot outside his home; in Pakistan, Sufi Mohammed Khan, a reporter who exposed local mafia, was killed after death threats; in Mozambique, Carlos Cardozo, a campaigning editor, was gunned down in a military-style ambush; in Russia, Sergei Novikov, a radio station owner who made trenchant criticism of regional political leaders, was shot by a lone killer outside his home.
At the same time, journalists covering war zones have continued to be in the firing line. One Palestinian journalist has been killed and about 30 injured in the Middle East conflict, and two veteran reporters, Miguel Gil Moreno of AP and Kurt Schork of Reuters, were shot dead in a horrifying ambush in war-torn Seirra Leone.
The International Federation of Journalists is the world’s largest organisation of journalists, representing more than 420,000 worldwide. The IFJ was founded in 1926 and relaunched in its current form in 1952. The IFJ is recognised by the United Nations, in Europe it has status with the Council of Europe, the European Union and the OSCE.
