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Iraq again tops list of countries where journalists are
murdered regularly and killers go free
New York—Targeted murders of journalists in Syria landed
the war-torn country for the first time on the Committee to Protect
Journalists' annual Impunity Index released April 16. Syria
joins Iraq, Somalia, the Philippines, and others on the list of countries
where journalists are murdered regularly and their killers go free.
But
there was some good news. Four countries on the Index—the Philippines,
Pakistan, Russia, and Brazil-achieved at least one conviction in a
journalist murder case, while the United Nations recognized the need to
combat impunity in a resolution in November.
“In
too many countries, the climate of impunity engenders further violence
and deprives citizens- global as well as local-of their basic right to
information," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. "Growing
awareness about the threat posed by failure to solve journalist murders
must be translated into concrete action. Governments and the
international community need to work together to end this vicious cycle.”
A
series of deliberate murders has added a new threat to the mix in Syria,
the most dangerous place in the world for journalists to do their jobs,
with dozens of abductions, crossfire fatalities, and deaths carrying out
dangerous assignments.
Iraq
remains the worst offender on the Index. A hundred journalists have been
murdered there in the past decade, all with impunity. After a respite in
2012, nine murders took place last year.
Encouraging
developments took place in Pakistan, which convicted six suspects for the
2011 murder of Wali Khan Babar, and Russia, where a businessman was
sentenced for the 2000 murder of Igor Domnikov. As is usually the case,
according to CPJ research, the masterminds of both crimes remain at
large. In Mexico, legislation was approved in April 2013 giving federal
authorities jurisdiction to prosecute crimes against journalists. All
three countries remain on this year's Index.
The
deadly pattern of impunity has at long last prompted an international
response. In November of 2013, the U.N. adopted a resolution calling
on states to end the cycle of injustice, recognizing November 2 as the
International Day to End Impunity and calling on the U.N. secretary
general to report at the 2014 General Assembly on the progress made in
regard to the 2012 UN Plan of Action on the
Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity. (Committee to Protect Journalists)
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