CPJ recounts a dangerous year

INTERNATIONAL: From violence in Iraq to impunity in Russia, CPJ recounts a dangerous year in its report, "Attacks on the Press"

PRESS RELEASE - INTERNATIONAL

6 February 2007

>From violence in Iraq to impunity in Russia, CPJ recounts a dangerous year in its report, "Attacks on the Press"

SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 5 February 2007 CPJ press release:

>From violence in Iraq to impunity in Russia, CPJ recounts a dangerous year in Attacks on the Press

New York, February 5, 2007 - Journalists were killed and jailed for the work in growing numbers in 2006, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports in its new analysis of international press conditions, Attacks on the Press. Targeted assassinations from Iraq to Russia, the rise of popularly elected autocrats in Latin America, and the erosion of neutral observer status for war correspondents all threatened press freedom in 2006.

Reported and written by the staff of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Attacks on the Press also details a record-setting year of violence in Iraq, where 32 journalists were killed in the line of duty, making it the deadliest year for the press in a single country that CPJ has ever documented. CPJ, founded in 1981, publishes Attacks on the Press annually.

Underscoring the global nature of CPJ's advocacy, Attacks on the Press is being released internationally at press conferences in Cairo, Hong Kong, Paris, and Washington, D.C. CPJ's annual survey documents hundreds of cases of media repression in dozens of countries, including murders, assaults, imprisonments, censorship, and legal harassment. With a preface by CNN's Anderson Cooper, anchor of the primetime news program "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees," Attacks on the Press also features in-depth regional reporting and analysis of global trends.

An embargoed version of Attacks on the Press is now available online: http://www.cpj.org/attacks06/pages06/aop06index.html

Some highlights:

- Worldwide, CPJ found 55 journalists were killed in direct connection to their work in 2006, and it is investigating another 27 deaths to determine whether they were work-related. The figures reflect increases from 2005, when 47 journalists were killed in direct relation to their work.

- Thirty of 32 journalists killed in Iraq were Iraqis, continuing a two-year trend in which local journalists made up an overwhelming proportion of the casualties (see http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/Iraq/Iraq_danger.html ). CBS cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan, both London-based, were the only foreign journalists killed in Iraq in 2006. Among the Iraqi victims was Atwar Bahjat, correspondent for the satellite channel Al-Arabiya and former reporter for Al-Jazeera. CPJ honored Bahjat posthumously in November with its International Press Freedom Award (see: http://www.cpj.org/awards06/bahjat.html ).

- The number of journalists jailed for their work also increased for the second consecutive year, up to 134, an increase of nine from the 2005 tally. One in three journalists behind bars is now an Internet blogger, online editor, or Web-based reporter, according to CPJ's analysis, making it the fastest growing category of imprisoned journalists.

- In China, CPJ documented the biggest government crackdown since Tiananmen Square, one that is stifling coverage of civil unrest and environmental degradation. China, with 31 journalists imprisoned, was the world's leading jailer of journalists for the eighth consecutive year.

- Highlights from the year's research include CPJ's 10 Most Censored Countries, led by North Korea, Burma, and Turkmenistan, and the findings of "Deadly News," a special report that found that murder to be the leading case of journalists' deaths.

- Analyses by CPJ staff spotlight official indifference in solving journalist slayings in the countries of the former Soviet Union, and the failure of the African Union to speak out against press freedom abuses. In Pakistan and Afghanistan, front lines in the war on terrorism, reporting is suffering as security deteriorates. And in several Latin American countries, leftist governments are imposing new curbs on the press.

- In Sub-Saharan Africa, the jailing of journalists is on the rise with 46 behind bars, up from 33 in 2005. In Ethiopia and Eritrea, more than 40 journalists are jailed on spurious charges.

Despite these assaults on the press, CPJ documented several advancements. In Thailand, media activist Supinya Klangnarong and four journalists from the Thai-language daily Thai Post were acquitted on criminal defamation charges brought by telecommunications giant Shin Corp. Indonesia's Supreme Court overturned a criminal libel conviction against Tempo editor Bambang Harymurti, and the Mexico City Legislative Assembly passed measures decriminalizing defamation, libel and slander, and enabling journalists to withhold the identity of confidential sources.

In the Philippines, convictions in the case of a murdered journalist built on a positive trend. In October, three people were convicted and sentenced in the murder of investigative reporter Marlene Garcia-Esperat. The Philippines remains one of the world's deadliest countries for journalists, but authorities have pledged to address widespread impunity in the killings.

Featuring an introduction by CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon, Attacks on the Press is widely recognized as the most authoritative source of information on international press conditions. Attacks on the Press is available through the Brookings Institution Press (see http://www.brookings.edu/ ).

The Committee to Protect Journalists is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.cpj.org

Ends

© Scoop Media