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2004 proves fatal year for journalists

At least 53 journalists were killed while doing their job or for expressing their opinions during 2004 – making it the deadliest year for the media in a decade.

For the second year running, Iraq was the most dangerous location for international press, with 19 reporters and 15 media assistants executed.

This is the staunch finding from press freedom group, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which says a further 907 were arrested and almost 1,200 were attacked or threatened.

"Terrorist strikes and Iraqi guerrilla attacks were the main cause, but the US army was held responsible for the death of four of them," said the Paris-based group, in its annual report.

The Philippines and Bangladesh were the next most dangerous countries for the media, where six journalists and four reporters were murdered, simply for investigating corruption, drug trafficking and gangsterism.

Organised crime threatening press freedom in Asia provoked one Philippines leader column to state that, "with every murder of a journalist, or a judge, an environmentalist, an anti-corruption activist, a human rights worker - democracy dies a little."

The editorial said that 2004 would be remembered as a year of "infamy," pointing to the high-profile killings of the world's media in Iraq.

One victim, Enzo Baldoni, a freelance reporter for Italy's weekly 'Diario,' was executed in August by the 'Islamic Army in Iraq,' amid criticism his government was failing to work quickly enough to save his life.

Two French journalists, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, were meanwhile luckier than their Italian counterpart and returned home for Christmas, after four months held hostage at the hands of insurgents.

Outside of Iraq, RSF said press freedom in the Middle East remains "very delicate," as authorities continue a policy of self-censorship on a wide range of topics they deem as unsuitable.

Journalists died in Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Palestinian Territories while fewer attacks than expected were recorded in Lebanon and Israel, despite strong press censorship.

However, there is respect for press freedom in North America, as well as most old and new EU member states.

New laws for Turkey means there is hope for an uncensored media, but "in practice these measures have not yet significantly improved press freedom."

Meanwhile, Russia and the Ukraine were highlighted as countries where obvious bias leads the media coverage from the highest authority.

Perhaps the bleakest situation remains in parts of Africa, such as Eritrea and Zimbabwe, where foreign correspondents are banned and domestic journalists are imprisoned in secret places without trial.

In areas like the Congo and Abidjan, independent media outlets have been shut down and their editors, reporters and assistants are attacked and jailed.

According to RSF, press freedom has improved in several countries and journalists in Benin, Botswana, Cape Verde, Ghana, Mali, Mauritius, Namibia and South Africa now enjoy freedoms close to those of their colleagues in Europe.

The media freedom group is continuing its appeal for greater levels of press freedom, citing events in Burkina Faso, where nobody has been punished six years after the murder of journalist Norbert Zongo.

Jan 7, 2005
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