Killings blamed on impunity

VIENNA, Tuesday

Worldwide, 66 journalists were killed in 2008, down from 93 in 2007 and 100 in 2006, according to the International Press Institute’s annual review.

“What united the many different incidents was a growing sense of resignation that little would be done to investigate and prosecute the killers,” said Uta Melzer, editor of the IPI’s World Press Freedom Review.

Asia replaced the Middle East as the deadliest region for journalists last year, with 26 reporters, photographers and editors losing their lives in retaliation for their work or in civil conflicts, the IPI said.

More journalists were killed in Iraq than in any other country for the sixth year in a row, but Pakistan became the second deadliest place for them as chaos gripped the country’s politics and conflict spread on the border with Afghanistan.

The IPI report, which this year focuses on Asia, also shows that journalists’ murders are rarely prosecuted.

“Impunity remains a contagion in the region, particularly in the Philippines and Sri Lanka, but the murderers of journalists are also escaping prosecution in leading democracies such as India,” IPI director David Dadge said in releasing the report.

Journalists also died in large numbers in Mexico, Georgia and Russia, where increasingly brazen attacks unnerved a journalism community already accustomed to violence.

Defamation

In Asia, protecting religion from perceived criticism came before protecting speech in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Globally, laws containing criminal penalties for defamation of states, leaders or individuals were convenient tools to restrict news coverage.

The IPI review has been published for nearly 50 of the organisation’s 58 years.