12 January 2007
2006 Among Deadliest Years for Journalists, Press Groups Say
State Department’s Karen Hughes says media face “unprecedented threats”
Washington – The world became a more dangerous place for journalists in 2006, with more members of the media killed during that year than in any year since 1994, several global press freedom advocacy groups report.
In its “Press Freedom Round-up 2006,” released December 31, 2006, Reporters Without Borders -- a Paris-based international nongovernmental organization that advocates for freedom of the press -- said at least 81 journalists were killed in 21 countries while doing their job, the highest annual toll since 1994, when 103 journalists died.
Reflecting on the dangers facing journalists worldwide, Karen Hughes, the U.S. State Department’s under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, told USINFO in a January 12 statement that one of the issues she is very concerned about “as a communicator in government, is press freedom.”
Hughes, who has worked as a journalist, said she is convinced that press freedom “goes hand in hand with good government. There is always a healthy tension between government and the press, but they both need each other. A free press holds government officials to account; government officials rely on the press to inform their constituents about what they are doing.”
And yet, Hughes added, “we live in a time of unprecedented attacks on the media around the world. Journalists in many countries face the threat of being harassed, abducted, imprisoned, tortured, maimed or assassinated just for doing their jobs. We need to talk much more in international circles about the extent of this problem -- what’s being done about it -- and what more we could do."
The State Department’s Bureau of Human Rights, Democracy, and Labor said in marking World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 2006, that a “free press empowers the powerless, exposes corruption, encourages transparency in governance, and promotes participation in the political process. That is why supporting press freedom is an integral part of [U.S. government] efforts to promote human rights and democracy worldwide.”
The State Department also documents repression against journalists worldwide in its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
IRAQ A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS PLACE FOR REPORTERS
Reporters Without Borders said that for the fourth straight year, Iraq was the world’s most dangerous country for the media. In 2006, some 64 journalists and media assistants (drivers, translators and technicians) were killed in Iraq. About 90 percent of the victims were Iraqis, the group said.
The second most dangerous country for the media was Mexico, with nine journalists killed in the nation in 2006, according to Reporters Without Borders. Mexico moved ahead of Colombia as Latin America’s most deadly country for the media.
The press group said the Philippines was in third place, describing as “grim” the situation for journalists in that country, followed by Russia in fourth place, where three journalists were killed during 2006.
The Reporters Without Borders’ report followed a December 2006 U.N. Security Council resolution condemning “intentional attacks” against journalists and calling for the prosecution of the killers of journalists. The council said it was “deeply concerned” at the “frequency of acts of violence in many parts of the world against journalists,” in particular “deliberate attacks in violation of international humanitarian law.”
In a separate action, the Brussels, Belgium-based International Federation of Journalists, one of the world’s largest organizations of journalists, said in a December 31, 2006, statement that 2006 was a “year of tragedy” for the world press as killings of reporters and media staff reached “historic levels” with at least 155 murders, assassinations and unexplained deaths.
The group’s general secretary, Aidan White, said the “media have become more powerful and journalism has become more dangerous.” White said 2006 was “the worst year on record -- a year of targeting, brutality and continued impunity in the killing of journalists.”
Like Reporters Without Borders, the Brussels group said Iraq was the deadliest place for journalists. Its figures showed 68 members of the media were killed in that country.
Media organizations report differing death tolls in part because they use different criteria to classify reporters.
White welcomed the U.N. Security Council’s resolution on protecting journalists. He said the United Nations has “put the focus on a deepening media crisis. It is long overdue. We want to see action against countries that allow impunity in the killing of journalists.”
Another free-press advocate, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said its research found that 56 journalists around the world were killed in 2006. The journalists either died in the line of duty or deliberately were targeted for assassination because of their reporting or their affiliation with a news organization, said the New York group.
The full text of the State Department’s most recent report on human rights practices, released in March 2006, is available on the department’s Web site.
The “Press Freedom Round-up 2006” and the U.N. Security Council resolution are available on the organizations’ Web sites.
Additional information about the Federation of Journalists and the Committee to Protect Journalists is available on their Web sites.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
