Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

attacks on the press in 2009journalists killed: azerbaijanreporter Eliseo Barrón Hernández from his home as his horrified family watched.His body, a gunshot wound to the head, was found later in a ditch. In Sri Lanka,eight helmeted motorcyclists intercepted Lasantha Wickramatunga’s car on aroad outside Colombo and beat him to death. The editor was known for his criticalreporting on the government.Here are other trends and details that emerged in CPJ’s analysis:»»The 2009 toll is up more than 65 percent from the 42 deaths recorded in2008.»»All but three of the 2009 victims were local journalists. While local reportershave long been more vulnerable to deadly violence than their foreigncounterparts, the divide has never been wider in CPJ’s annual assessment.»»Print journalists constituted 57 percent of the toll, indicating that printmedia continue to play a front-line role in reporting the news in dangeroussituations. Although CPJ research has found a notable decline in thenumber of print journalists in jail, it has charted no comparable drop infatalities among print reporters, editors, and photographers.»»In addition to the murders in Maguindanao, CPJ recorded three otherwork-related deaths in the Philippines in 2009. In all, 32 journalists andtwo support workers were killed in the country during the year.»»Two journalists died of neglect or mistreatment while imprisoned on workrelatedcharges. Novruzali Mamedov died in an Azerbaijani prison after beingdenied adequate medical care, while Iranian blogger Omidreza Mirsayafidied in Evin Prison under circumstances that were never fully explained.CPJ compiles and analyzes journalist deaths each year. Researchers independentlyinvestigate and verify the circumstances behind each death. CPJ considersa case work-related only when its staff is reasonably certain that a journalist waskilled in direct reprisal for his or her work, in crossfire, or while carrying out adangerous assignment.If the motive in a killing is unclear, but it is possible that a journalist died inrelation to his or her work, CPJ classifies the case as “unconfirmed” and continuesto investigate. CPJ’s list does not include journalists who died in accidents—suchas car or plane crashes—unless the crash was caused by hostile action. Journalistswho disappear are not included in this report. Their cases are classified as “missing”and can be found at cpj.org.70 journalists killed: m o t i v e c o n f i r m e dAFGHANISTAN: 2Sultan Mohammed MunadiThe New York TimesSeptember 9, 2009, near KunduzMunadi and Times colleague StephenFarrell were kidnapped by the Talibanon September 5. Munadi was shotfour days later during a British militaryrescue mission that freed Farrell,a British-Irish national. Farrell toldthe Times he did not know the sourceof fire that killed Munadi. The Britishdecided to undertake the missionafter Afghan government agentsreported that the captors planned tomove the journalists to Pakistan, theTimes said.The two were abducted while coveringthe aftermath of a NATO raid ontwo hijacked fuel tankers near Kunduzin which scores of civilians werereportedly killed. Munadi was a wellrespectedAfghan reporter who hadjust returned to the country for thepresidential election held in August.He had been studying in Germany fora master’s degree in public policy andhad been a long-time reporter for theTimes and other publications.Munadi’s remains were not recoveredby the British rescue team. Britishmilitary authorities released fewdetails about the mission and did notrespond to inquiries from CPJ seekinginformation about the circumstancesof his death, whether his rescue wasan objective of the mission, or whetherthe troops had sufficient informationto identify him as one of the captives.In November, CPJ called on BritishPrime Minister Gordon Brown to undertakea thorough investigation intothe rescue mission, noting that manyquestions were left unanswered in theaftermath.Michelle Lang, Calgary Heraldand Canwest News ServiceDecember 30, 2009, south ofKandaharLang, embedded with Canadian troopsin Afghanistan, was killed along withfour soldiers while traveling in a militaryconvoy. Their vehicle was hit by aroadside bomb about two miles (threekilometers) south of the volatile cityof Kandahar. Four other soldiers anda Canadian civilian were injured.Lang was covering a provincial reconstructionteam that was workingwith Afghan civilians to repair wardamage, the Calgary Herald reported.Her death was the first of a Canadianjournalist in Afghanistan.AZERBAIJAN: 1Novruzali Mamedov, Talyshi SadoAugust 17, 2009, BakuMamedov, 68, editor of a now-defunctminority newspaper Talyshi Sado, died252253