(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a WAN press release: Paris, 25 January 2005 For immediate release 71 Journalists Killed in 2004; 23 Died in Iraq Seventy-one journalists and other media workers were killed because of their professional activities in 2004, with 23 of them killed in Iraq, the most dangerous place for journalists on the […]
(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a WAN press release:
Paris, 25 January 2005
For immediate release
71 Journalists Killed in 2004; 23 Died in Iraq
Seventy-one journalists and other media workers were killed because of their professional activities in 2004, with 23 of them killed in Iraq, the most dangerous place for journalists on the planet, the World Association of Newspapers said Tuesday.
The toll was the highest for a single year since 1994, when 73 were killed.
Journalists working in Iraq continue to be targets for kidnapping and murder, with 23 killed in 2004 after 15 deaths in the country in 2003.
The Philippines was the second most deadly place for journalists, with 11 killed in 2004, compared with seven killed the previous year.
“While war and terrorism accounted for a large number of deaths, many reporters who investigate organised crime, drug trafficking, corruption and other crimes also fell victim to assassins,” said Timothy Balding, Director General of the Paris-based WAN.
“Many of the killers are never caught or prosecuted and WAN will focus its activities for World Press Freedom Day, 3 May, on “Impunity — Getting Away With Murder”, Mr Balding said.
“Around the world, hundreds of journalists have been killed in the past decade. In more than two-thirds of the cases, no one has been brought to justice, much less convicted,” he said.
Details of all the murders, listed by country, are available on the WAN web site at http://www.wan-press.org/rubrique512.html
The 2004 death toll compares with 53 killed in 2003, 46 killed in 2002, 60 killed in 2001 and 53 killed in 2000. Seventy journalists died in 1999 and 28 in 1998.
Journalists and other media workers were also killed in Bangladesh (4), Belarus (1), Brazil (2), Colombia (1), Dominican Republic (1), The Gambia (1), Haiti (1), India (3), Israel and the Occupied Territories (1), Ivory Coast (1), Mexico (4), Nepal (2), Nicaragua (2), Pakistan (1), Paraguay (1), Peru (2), Russia (3), Saudi Arabia (1), Serbia and Montenegro (1), Sri Lanka (3), and Venezuela (1).
Several press freedom organisations track the number of journalists killed each year. The numbers vary based on the criteria used by different associations. WAN’s figures include all media workers killed in the line of duty or targeted because of their work. It also includes cases where the motive for the killings is uncertain or where investigations have not been completed.
WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 10 news agencies and ten regional and world-wide press groups.
