New York — The Deadly Cost of Reporting War
The International Press Institute's (IPI) World Press Freedom Review 2003 highlights the extreme sacrifices made by journalists reporting from the battlefront.
With 19 journalists killed in Iraq, 14 during the war, five in the aftermath, and two missing and presumed dead, 2003 was one of the bloodiest years in recent times for war reporters. Whether reporting unilaterally or embedded in military units, journalists paid a heavy price; many died as the result of enemy fire, friendly fire, suicide attack, mistaken identity, accident or sudden illness.
The experience reinforced the media's need to confront safety issues, while inviting the military to review their terms of engagement, their lines of communication with the media in wartime, and the way in which the deaths of journalists are investigated. It is significant that a number of deaths in Iraq might have been avoided if combat soldiers had been given the same information as their superiors regarding the whereabouts of journalists.
Away from Iraq, a further 45 journalists in 19 countries lost their lives in 2003. The most dangerous region was Asia where 19 journalists were murdered: seven of them in the Philippines and three each in Nepal and India. Elsewhere, in Bangladesh, violent assaults were perpetrated against the media and improvements in Sri Lanka were endangered by political intrigue. Moreover, the countries of Burma, China and Vietnam still imprison and arrest Internet users for promoting democracy.
In the Americas, where 17 journalists were killed, Colombia, with nine deaths, remains the most consistently dangerous country in the world to practice journalism. Four journalists were also killed in Brazil and the country is representative of much of the region where death threats, stringent libel laws and official harassment all play a role in suppressing the media. Cuba also passed harsh jail sentences on 28 journalists trying to report freely, making it the country with the most imprisoned journalists in the world.
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There were four journalists' deaths in Europe, three of them in Russia, with the other found dead under suspicious circumstances in the Ukraine.
Throughout the region there are continuing battles between the media and government. In other European countries, such as Azerbaijan, Belarus and Spain, the media suffer violence and harassment.
Two journalists were killed in Africa, both in Cote d'Ivoire where the war that supposedly finished in July 2003 still exerts an influence.
Ethiopia, Eritrea, Swaziland, Togo and Zimbabwe continue to suppress their media. In the Middle East, excluding the war in Iraq, two journalists were killed in the Palestinian Territories and one died as the result of interrogation in Iran. Although quieter than the previous year, in the Australasian and Oceanic region officials still verbally attack the media.
Containing 184 reports on countries and territories across the globe, the IPI World Press Freedom Review is an examination of the state of press freedom in 2003.
The Review may be seen at:http://www.freemedia.at.
For further information, contact IPI Secretariat at Spiegelgasse 2/29, A-1010 Vienna, Austria, tel: +43 1 512 90 11, fax: +43 1 512 90 14, e-mail: ipi@freemediat.at, Internet site: www.freemedia.at.
