Journalists Group Lists Iraq as Least Responsive in Investigating Journalist Murders

Journalists are killed for many reasons in many countries. This article below lists the "Impunity Index" of 13 countries with the worst track record of prosecuting those who murder journalists. The index was created by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Iraq is the worst in the list, and has an Impunity rating almost twice as bad as the next country on the list, Sierra Leone.

A major reason for journalist murders in Iraq and other countries is the murders are intentional based on professional reasons, like the journalist was a muckraker or wrote an investigation on possible corruption.

So, another cost to the world is that journalists get murdered more often when writing about corruption.
A major reason is that the US, UN, the UK and other "civilized countries" are not forcing those countries receiving foreign aid to investigate, prevent and prosecute corruption cases.

Again, our mantra - STOP all foreign aid to all countries until they are in the top half of the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (not the bottom half), AND not on the CPJ Impunity Index list. Currently, Iraq ranks third from the bottom on the 2007 TI Corruption Perception Index out of 179 country rankings.

You can find the CPJ at http://www.cpj.org/ .
Here is the Impunity Index list: http://www.cpj.org/impunityindex/index.html#countries
You can find the Transparency International Corruption Index at: http://www.transparency.org/
vj

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Iraq a Safe Place -- For Getting Away With Murder Of A Journalist, Report Says

By E&P Staff (Editor & Publisher Magazine)

Published: April 30, 2008 2:30 PM ET

CHICAGO A report on the nation's with the worst record of prosecuting those who murder journalists places Iraq at the top of the list -- but also includes such democracies as India, the Philippines, Russia and Columbia.

The "Impunity Index" released Wednesday by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) ranks 13 nations which each have at least five unsolved murders of journalists on the books.

Not surprisingly the top five nations on the list -- Iraq, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Colombia, Sri Lanka -- are literal or virtual war zones. CPJ noted, however, that most of the journalists killed in these conflict areas are singled out for death, and not accidental victims of war.

But the list also includes Mexico, with seven unpunished murders of journalists, and Bangladesh, with eight.

CPJ compiled the index by calculating the number of unsolved journalists murders as a percentage of the population. The New York City-based press freedom group included all killings between 1998 and 2007.

"Every time a journalist is murdered and the killer is allowed to walk free it sends a terrible signal to the press and to others who would harm journalists," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said in a statement. "The governments on this list simply must do more to demonstrate a real commitment to a free press. Lip service won't help save journalists' lives. We are calling for action: thorough investigations and vigorous prosecutions in all journalist homicides."

Here are the 13 countries on the Impunity Index, with CPJ's explanation of the situation:

1. IRAQ
Iraq became the world's most dangerous country for the press after the 2003 U.S. invasion led to armed conflict and sectarian strife. Journalists have generally not died in combat, however. Most are targeted for professional reasons and murdered. Most of the victims, such as Al-Arabiya correspondent Atwar Bahjat, are Iraqis. Seventy-nine cases are unsolved.

Impunity Index Rating: 2.821 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.

2. SIERRA LEONE
The 11-year civil war, which ended in 2002, took a great human toll across Sierra Leonean society. Nine journalist murders remain unsolved. Many of these cases stem from a particularly brutal period in January 1999, when rebels took the capital, Freetown. More recently, however, newspaper editor Harry Yansaneh was beaten to death in 2005, allegedly by a member of parliament and her relatives.

Impunity Index Rating: 1.636 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.

3. SOMALIA
Run largely by competing warlords since 1991, Somalia remains fragmented since Ethiopian troops helped install a central government in late 2006. No convictions have been obtained in five journalist murders. They include the slayings of radio journalists Mahad Ahmed Elmi and Ali Sharmarke, who were killed within hours of each other on August 11, 2007.

Impunity Index Rating: 0.610 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.

4. COLOMBIA
The conflict among right-wing paramilitaries, leftist guerillas, and government forces has led to dozens of journalist deaths. In the vast majority of cases, journalists were targeted for their coverage and murdered. At least 20 cases are unsolved, including the 2003 slaying of the nationally known investigative reporter Guillermo Bravo Vega.

Impunity Index Rating: 0.439 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.

5. SRI LANKA
Fighting between government and separatist forces has long bled the nation. But journalists are more likely to be assassinated than to die in crossfire, with many of the victims ethnic Tamils. The victims include senior Tamil journalist Mylvaganam Nimalrajan, shot in his home in 2000. Nimalrajan's murder is among eight unsolved cases here.

Impunity Index Rating: 0.408 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.

6. PHILIPPINES
While the country has a free and vibrant press, journalists covering corruption, crime, and politics have repeatedly been targeted with violence. Broadcast commentators and reporters in provincial regions are especially vulnerable. Politicians and police have been implicated in a number of slayings, but corruption in the local court system has stymied efforts to prosecute. No convictions have been obtained in 24 cases.

Impunity Index Rating: 0.289 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.

7. AFGHANISTAN
Despite the prolonged armed conflict in Afghanistan, journalists are more likely to be targeted for murder than to be killed in a combat situation. Seven cases are unsolved, including the 2007 slaying of local reporter Ajmal Naqshbandi. Running counter to the international trend, most victims have been foreign rather than local reporters.

Impunity Index Rating: 0.279 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.

8. NEPAL
Political instability and conflict between the government and Maoist insurgents have challenged Nepal, where five journalist murders remain unsolved. Four of the victims were abducted and executed while in captivity. All were local journalists. They include Birendra Shah, a radio and print journalist who was kidnapped and slain in 2007.

Impunity Index Rating: 0.185 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.

9. RUSSIA
Business, official corruption, and human rights abuses are among Russia's most dangerous beats. Fourteen journalists have been murdered with impunity since 1998. They include the well-known investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, shot in her apartment building in 2006, and the American editor Paul Klebnikov, gunned down on a Moscow street in 2004.

Impunity Index Rating: 0.098 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.

10. MEXICO
Drug trafficking, organized crime, and official corruption are Mexico's deadliest beats. No convictions have been obtained in seven journalist murders. Most of the victims were local reporters, such as Francisco Ortiz Franco, a top editor for the muckraking Tijuana weekly Zeta who was shot in the middle of the day on a downtown street in 2004.

Impunity Index Rating: 0.068 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.

11. BANGLADESH
Political instability and entrenched corruption are the toughest stories to cover in Bangladesh. Eight journalist murders are unsolved. The victims were all local reporters, and include the veteran correspondent Manik Saha, killed when leftists threw a bomb into his rickshaw in 2004.

Impunity Index Rating: 0.056 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.

12. PAKISTAN
Political unrest, sectarian strife, and tribal warfare confront Pakistan. Eight Pakistani journalists have been murdered with impunity since 1998. The victims include reporter Hayatullah Khan, who was kidnapped in the tribal region of North Waziristan in 2005 and found dead several months later.

Impunity Index Rating: 0.051 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.

13. INDIA
The world's largest democracy also has one of the world's freest presses, but in India, as elsewhere, politics and organized crime are dangerous stories to cover. Fivemurder cases are unsolved. All of the victims were local reporters. Among them is newspaper reporter Prahlad Goala, who was run down by a truck and then stabbed in 2006 after writing about timber smuggling.

Impunity Index Rating: 0.005 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.