Pakistan deadliest country for journalists: Report

[Malik Usman]

Some peoples have mind set....its manufacturing fault you can change that.

 

[ajtr]

As bombings spread, Pakistan deadliest nation​

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At least 42 journalists are killed in 2010 as two trends emerge. Suicide attacks and violent street protests cause an unusually high proportion of deaths. And online journalists are increasingly prominent among the victims. A CPJ special report

NEW YORK
Amid a rash of suicide attacks, Pakistan became the world’s deadliest country for the press in 2010, with at least eight journalists killed there in connection with their work, constituting a significant portion of the worldwide death toll, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in its year-end analysis.

At least 42 journalists were killed around the world in 2010, with Iraq, Mexico, and Honduras also ranking high for journalism-related fatalities, CPJ’s analysis found. The worldwide toll reflects a notable drop from 2009, when a massacre in the Philippine province of Maguindanao drove the number of work-related deaths to a record 72. CPJ is investigating 28 other deaths in 2010 to determine whether they were work-related.

“The Philippine massacre and the conflict in Iraq pushed the number of journalists killed in recent years to record levels,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “The killing of 42 journalists in 2010, while a decline over previous years, is still unacceptably high and reflective of the pervasive violence journalists confront around the world. From Afghanistan to Mexico, Thailand to Russia, the failure of governments to investigate crimes against the press contributes to a climate of impunity that ultimately fuels further violence.”

Internet-based journalists constitute an increasing portion of CPJ’s death toll. At least six journalists who worked primarily online were killed in 2010. Internet journalists rarely appeared in CPJ’s death toll until 2008, when online reporters doing front-line investigative work began to be targeted with violence.

Murder was the leading cause of work-related deaths in 2010, as it has been in past years. But murders composed about 60 percent of deaths in 2010, lower than the rate of 72 percent seen over the past two decades. Deaths in combat-related crossfire and in dangerous assignments such as street protests constituted a larger portion of the 2010 toll than usual. Suicide bombings and crossfire in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Thailand, and Somalia accounted for the unusually high proportion.

Six of the eight fatalities in Pakistan were caused by suicide attacks or crossfire during militant strikes. On successive days in April, Samaa TV lost cameraman Malik Arif to a bombing at a Quetta hospital and correspondent Azamat Ali Bangash to a bomb attack targeting a refugee camp near Orakzai. Suicide attacks were a scourge for the Pakistani press throughout the year. More than two dozen other Pakistani journalists were injured in such attacks in 2010, CPJ research shows.

“The deaths of at least eight journalists in Pakistan are a symptom of the pervasive violence that grips the country, much of it spilling over from neighboring Afghanistan,” said CPJ’s Simon. “For many years, journalists in Pakistan have been murdered by militants and abducted by the government. But with the rise in suicide attacks, the greatest risk is simply covering the news. Journalists must put their lives on the line to cover a political rally, a street demonstration, or virtually any major public event. This is a deeply troubling and frankly untenable situation.”

Raging anti-press violence in Mexico claimed the lives of numerous journalists during the year. CPJ has confirmed that three journalists were killed in direct relation to their work, and it continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding seven other deaths. The victims include Luis Carlos Santiago, a photographer for the Ciudad Juárez newspaper El Diario who was gunned down while on assignment. His murder prompted the paper to publish an extraordinary editorial addressed directly to the drug cartels that control the city. “What do you want from us?” the editorial asked in its headline, noting later that, “You are, at this time, the de facto authorities.”

Worldwide, nearly 90 percent of the victims were local reporters covering issues that affected their communities. Among them was Sardasht Osman, an Iraqi reporter who was seized from a street in Arbil and then murdered after describing alleged corruption in the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Five international journalists were killed in connection with their work. Fabio Polenghi, an Italian freelance photographer, and Hiro Muramoto, a Japanese cameraman for Reuters, were killed in crossfire between Thai security forces and antigovernment protesters. In July, a CPJ investigation concluded that both government troops and demonstrators engaged in recklessness that led to the two deaths. Reuters reported in December that a preliminary government report found that troops may have shot Muramoto.

Belarusian editor Aleh Byabenin was among the online journalists on CPJ’s death toll. Founder of the pro-opposition news website Charter 97, he was found dead in his summer house outside Minsk. Authorities declared the death a suicide without addressing questions about the extensive injuries found on his body, or the absence of a suicide note or motive. Charter 97, whose coverage is critical of the government, has been the target of cyber-attacks and government raids, while its staffers have endured repeated death threats.

CPJ research shows that about 90 percent of journalist murders go unsolved. In Honduras, a CPJ investigation found that authorities had been careless and inattentive in investigating a string of eight journalist murders, at least three of which were work-related. Among the victims was Nahúm Palacios Arteaga, a provocative television anchor who was ambushed by multiple gunmen outside his home. Honduran authorities conducted virtually no investigation in the aftermath, taking no photographs and collecting no evidence at the crime scene. Only after the case drew international attention, months later, did authorities exhume the body to conduct an autopsy.

CPJ has been waging a Global Campaign Against Impunity, focusing on Russia and the Philippines, two nations with high rates of unsolved journalist murders. No work-related murders were reported in Russia in 2010, although one journalist was severely beaten during the year. In September, after meeting with a CPJ delegation, Russian investigators reopened several unsolved journalist murder cases from prior years.

Two journalists were murdered for their work in the Philippines in 2010, continuing a pattern of persistent anti-press violence. In September, prosecutors began trying the first 19 defendants in the Maguindanao case, but a CPJ investigation identified numerous problems that could thwart justice: Witnesses have been intimidated, local police have not cooperated with prosecutors, and forensic evidence has been compromised.

While Pakistan moved to the forefront of dangerous conflict zones, journalists continue to be killed in Iraq, Somalia, and Afghanistan. Deaths in Iraq, after plummeting in 2008, appear to have leveled off amid persistent insecurity. Four Iraqi journalists were killed during the year, the same number as died in 2009. More than 20 journalists had been killed in Iraq in each year from 2004 to 2007, a rate unprecedented in CPJ history.

The death toll dropped in Somalia, where two local journalists were murdered or killed in combat situations. While declining from the nine deaths recorded in 2009, the toll does not likely reflect an improvement in the security situation. At least 59 Somali journalists have fled into exile in recent years, according to CPJ research, and journalists who remain in the country say they must practice extensive self-censorship to survive.

Worldwide, the victims reflect the breadth and diversity of journalism, working in all media and covering topics from war to sports to crime. They include James P. Hunter, a U.S. Army staff sergeant filing stories for military publications, who was killed by an explosion while covering patrols in Afghanistan. Hunter was one of two journalists killed in Afghanistan. Togolese sports reporter Stanislas Ocloo was killed when militants in Angola ambushed a bus carrying his country’s Africa Cup soccer team. And in Brazil, radio reporter Francisco Gomes de Medeiros was shot in front of his home after exposing the activities of drug traffickers.

Here are other trends and details that emerged in CPJ’s analysis:

Broadcast reporters constituted nearly 40 percent of the victims, the largest single professional category. That’s a departure from long-term CPJ data that show print reporters as the single largest category.
One journalist died in prison in 2010. Cameroonian editor Germain Cyrille Ngota Ngota was jailed after he and other journalists asked a presidential aide about alleged misuse of state oil company funds. Although an initial death certificate faulted prison officials for neglect, the government denied responsibility.
Four media support workers were killed worldwide, three of them in a bomb blast that destroyed the Baghdad offices of Al-Arabiya television.
At least five journalists were reported missing during the year, three in Mexico and one apiece in Sri Lanka and Ukraine.
Nine freelance journalists were among the 2010 victims, a number consistent with past years.
Among murder victims, more than 60 percent had reported receiving threats in the weeks before they died. Long-term CPJ research shows that physical attacks are often preceded by phone or electronic threats.
Other places with media fatalities were: Nigeria, Indonesia, Yemen, Colombia, India, Greece, Lebanon, Uganda, and Rwanda
CPJ began compiling detailed records on all journalist deaths in 1992. CPJ staff members independently investigate and verify the circumstances behind each death. CPJ considers a case work-related only when its staff is reasonably certain that a journalist was killed in direct reprisal for his or her work; in crossfire; or while carrying out a dangerous assignment.

If the motives in a killing are unclear, but it is possible that a journalist died in relation to his or her work, CPJ classifies the case as “unconfirmed” and continues to investigate. CPJ’s list does not include journalists who died from illness or were killed in accidents—such as car or plane crashes—unless the crash was caused by hostile action. Other press organizations using different criteria cite higher numbers of deaths than CPJ.

CPJ’s database of journalists killed for their work in 2010 includes capsule reports on each victim and a statistical analysis. CPJ also maintains a database of all journalists killed since 1992. A final list of journalists killed in 2010 will be released in early January.

 

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42 Journalists Killed in 2010/Motive Confirmed
Terminology explained
Pervez Khan, Waqt TV
December 6, 2010, in Ghalanai, Pakistan
Abdul Wahab, Express News
December 6, 2010, in Ghalanai, Pakistan
Carlos Alberto Guajardo Romero, Expreso Matamoros
November 5, 2010, in Matamoros, Mexico
Francisco Gomes de Medeiros, Radio Caicó
October 18, 2010, in Caicó, Brazil
Tahrir Kadhim Jawad, freelance
October 4, 2010, in Garma, Iraq
Luis Carlos Santiago, El Diario
September 16, 2010, in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
Misri Khan, Ausaf and Mashriq
September 14, 2010, in Hangu, Pakistan
Paul Kiggundu, TOP Radio and TV
September 11, 2010, in an area outside Kalisizio, Uganda
Safa al-Din Abdel Hamid, Al-Mosuliya
September 8, 2010, in Mosul, Iraq
Riad al-Saray, Al-Iraqiya
September 7, 2010, in Baghdad, Iraq
Ejaz Raisani, Samaa TV
September 6, 2010, in Quetta, Pakistan
Alberto Graves Chakussanga, Radio Despertar
September 5, 2010, in Luanda, Angola
Aleh Byabenin, Charter 97
September 3, 2010, in an area outside Minsk, Belarus
Barkhat Awale, Hurma Radio
August 24, 2010, in Mogadishu, Somalia
Ridwan Salamun, Sun TV
August 21, 2010, in Tual, Maluku Islands, Indonesia
Assaf Abu Rahal, Al-Akhbar
August 3, 2010, in an area near Al-Adaysseh, Lebanon
Ardiansyah Matra'is, Merauke TV
July 30, 2010, in Merauke, Indonesia
Vijay Pratap Singh, Indian Express
July 20, 2010, in Allahabad, India
Sokratis Giolias, Thema 98.9, Troktiko
July 19, 2010, in Athens, Greece
Jean-Léonard Rugambage, Umuvugizi
June 26, 2010, in Kigali, Rwanda
James P. Hunter, Fort Campbell Courier, U.S. military publications
June 24, 2010, in Kandahar, Afghanistan
Joselito Agustin, DZJC
June 16, 2010, in Baccara, Philippines
Desidario Camangyan, Sunrise FM
June 14, 2010, in Manay, Philippines
Ejazul Haq, City-42 TV
May 28, 2010, in Lahore, Pakistan
Fabio Polenghi, freelance
May 19, 2010, in Bangkok, Thailand
Ghulam Rasool Birhamani, Daily Sindhu Hyderabad
May 9 or 10, in Wahi Pandhi, Pakistan
Sardasht Osman, freelance
May 5, 2010, in Mosul, Iraq
Sheikh Nur Mohamed Abkey, Radio Mogadishu
May 4, 2010, in Mogadishu, Somalia
Sunday Gyang Bwede, The Light Bearer
April 24, 2010, in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria
Nathan S. Dabak, The Light Bearer
April 24, 2010, in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria
Germain Cyrille Ngota Ngota, Cameroon Express
April 22, 2010, in Yaoundé, Cameroon
Azamat Ali Bangash, Samaa TV
April 17, 2010, in Orakzai, Pakistan
Malik Arif, Samaa TV
April 16, 2010, in Quetta, Pakistan
Hiro Muramoto, Reuters
April 10, 2010, in Bangkok, Thailand
Clodomiro Castilla Ospino, El Pulso del Tiempo
March 19, 2010, in Montería, Colombia
Nahúm Palacios Arteaga, TV Channel 5
March 14, 2010, in Tocoa, Honduras
David Meza Montesinos, Radio El Patio, Radio America, Channel 45
March 11, 2010, in La Ceiba, Honduras
Joseph Hernández Ochoa, TV Channel 51
March 1, 2010, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Muhammad al-Rabou'e, Al-Qahira
February 13, 2010, in Beni Qais, Yemen
Rupert Hamer, Sunday Mirror
January 10, 2010, in an area near Nawa, Afghanistan
Stanislas Ocloo, Télévision Togolaise
January 9, 2010, in Cabinda province, Angola
Valentín Valdés Espinosa, Zócalo de Saltillo
January 8, 2010, in Saltillo, Mexico


4 Media Workers Killed in 2010
Terminology explained
Mohammad Sarwar, Aaj TV
September 3, 2010, in Quetta, Pakistan
Amira Hatem, Al-Arabiya
July 26, 2010, in Baghdad, Iraq
Mohamed Abd al-Kareem Hadi al-Bayati, Al-Arabiya
July 26, 2010, in Baghdad, Iraq
Aysar Mahmoud Hamid Zankana, Al-Arabiya
July 26, 2010, in Baghdad, Iraq


28 Journalists Killed in 2010/Motive Unconfirmed
Terminology explained
Mehmood Chandio, Awaz
December 5, 2010, in Mirpurkhas, Pakistan
Mazen Mardan al-Baghdadi, Al-Mosuliya
November 21, 2010, in Mosul, Iraq
Lala Hameed Baloch, Daily Intikhab
November 18, 2010, in an area outside Turbat, Pakistan
Rodolfo Maya Aricape, Radio Payumat
October 14, 2010, in Caloto, Colombia
Dickson Ssentongo, Prime Radio
September 13, 2010, in Nantabuliriwa, Uganda
Sayed Hamid Noori, Radio Television Afghanistan
September 5, 2010, in Kabul, Afghanistan
Adams Ledesma Valenzuela, Mundo Villa and Mundo Villa TV
September 4, 2010, in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Abdullahi Omar Gedi, Radio Daljir
August 31, 2010, in Galkayo district, Puntland, Somalia
Israel Zelaya Díaz, Radio Internacional
August 24, 2010, in an area near San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Miguel Belen, DWEB
July 31, 2010, in Iriga City, Philippines
Devi Prasad Dhital, Radio Tulsipur FM
July 22, 2010, in Tulsipur, Nepal
Marco Aurelio Martínez Tijerina, XEDD La Tremenda
July 10, 2010, in Montemorelos, Mexico
Hugo Alfredo Olivera Cartas, El Día de Michoacán, ADN
July 6, 2010, in Apatzingán, Mexico
María Elvira Hernández Galeana, Nueva Línea
June 28, 2010, in Coyuca de Benítez, Mexico
Juan Francisco Rodríguez Ríos, El Sol de Acapulco
June 28, 2010, in Coyuca de Benítez, Mexico
Luis Arturo Mondragón, Channel 19
June 14, 2010, in El Paraíso, Honduras
Edo Sule Ugbagwu, The Nation
April 24, 2010, in an area outside Lagos, Nigeria
Jorge Alberto Orellana, Televisión de Honduras
April 20, 2010, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Patient Chebeya, freelance
April 5, 2010, in Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Metin Alataş, Azadiya Welat
April 4, 2010, in Adana, Turkey
Manuel Juárez, Radio Super 10
March 26, 2010, in Catacamas, Honduras
José Bayardo Mairena, Excélsior
March 26, 2010, in Catacamas, Honduras
Evaristo Pacheco Solís, Visión Informativa
March 12, 2010, in Chilpancingo, Mexico
Arun Singhaniya, Today Group
March 1, 2010, in Janakpur, Nepal
Jamim Shah, Channel Nepal and Space Time Network
February 8, 2010, in Kathmandu, Nepal
Jorge Ochoa Martínez, El Sol de la Costa
January 29, 2010, in Ayutla de los Libres, Mexico
José Luis Romero, Línea Directa
January 2010, in Los Mochis, Mexico
Bobi Tsankov, freelance
January 5, 2010, in Sofia, Bulgaria

 

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I.S.I.'s death squad believed to be involved in Khuzdar reporter killing​

KHUZDAR: It was almost like the king's speech: “Threats and oppression are not going to stop us from doing our jobs,” the brave journalist said.

“We do, however, need to take these matters seriously, and nip these tendencies in the bud. They’re threatening us today; it’ll be someone else tomorrow. If we don’t take a stand collectively and give in to these pressure tactics, journalists will eventually lose all credibility.”

That brave journalist is no more: Mohammad Khan Sasoli, 36.

As early as April, Urooj Zia in a story headlined "Khuzdar Press Club under threat" reported Sasoli and other members of the Khuzdar Press Club condemned repeated threats issued to them by a militant group which has warned them against covering events organized by nationalist parties and groups in Balochistan.

Baloch Musalla Difa Tanzeem” (BMDT), a shadowy group that claimed responsibility for a hand-grenade attack on March 2 during Culture Day celebrations at the Balochistan University of Engineering and Technology had issued the threats to Khuzdar journalists, Urooj Zia reported.

Appeal for support: Khuzdar Press Club under threat. Life and times of a wayward soul.

The BMDT, widely suspected of being sponsored by the infamous Inter-Services Intelligence, is led by Shafiqur Rahman Mengal a son of former petroleum minister Mir Naseer Mengal

Another son of Mengal, Atta-ur-Rahman Mengal, was allegedly involved in the kidnapping of journalist Riaz Mengal, a reporter with Daily Intekhab, after the journalist exposd him in a multimillion stolen car trafficking racket.

Reporters Sans Frontières - Riaz Mengal escapes from his kidnappers



According to veteran Quetta journalist Shahzada Zulfiqar reporters in Khuzdar told him many of them including the deceased was under threat of the BMDT. "They had warned him if he goes covers events of nationalist parties you will be responsible for his own security," Zulfiqar said on phone from Quetta. Telling someone that he would be responsible for his own security is a Baloch tribal way of saying he would come under attack..

The International Federation of Journalists that groups together tens of thousands of journalists from all over the world, had in spring this year expressed concern over the threats to journalists in Balochistan.

IFJ concerned by threats to Khuzdar journalists

Acoording to Balochistan notable Akram baloch, Naseer Mengal's sons are religious and have been tasked to counter the secular national liberation movement.

Condemning the killing of the Baloch journalist, the Pakistan federal Union Of Journalists Secretary-General Shamsul Islam Naz, termed it a direct attack on democracy and
freedom of press.

Naz added that “an act of violence on a media practitioner is not only a crime against the individual victim, but it also represents an attack on freedom of expression, which is a fundamental right and a cornerstone of democratic society.”

On November 18, badly tortured body of a prominent pro-independence journalist Lala Hameed Hayatan of Gwader Press Club was dumped in the Sami River in Turbat by Pakistan's secret services.

 

[Awesome]

Unlike in other troubled areas, Journalists are roaming around in FATA. Its a great thing they are doing but they can't have police protection - taking the authorities in would mean starting a gun fight. They are better off hiring local security guards. Also its not a good idea for foreigners to go in there and then be mistaken as spies

 

[unicorn]

^^
I do not see any reporting on fata after the death of Mosa Khankhel one of the journalist of GEO in swat.