A Deadly Profession
Who might ever think that a dedication to a free press, to the quaint notion that a population deserves to know everything about those who govern it might lead to a situation where those who report on everything newsworthy are placing their lives at risk in so doing? The population of a country, any country, has a need to know what their political elites are up to. In democratic countries this knowledge can guide to changes during elections.
In pseudo-democracies or dictatorships and sometimes a combination of both it can lead the population to declare their distrust, distaste and disavowal of their ruling elite and if the dissenting numbers are sufficient it may lead to changes upturning the situation through polite and sometimes violent revolution. In any event, those who take it upon themselves to release information known to be inimical to a governing elite's future increasingly make their lives at risk.
At one time there was an underground press of Samizdat publications which operated clandestinely for their own safety in the certain knowledge that their lives would indeed be forfeit for speaking the truth and unveiling secrets that the ruling elite tried to hide from the population. The world is changing and now looks slightly askance at deliberate political murders, all the more so when it is respected news reporters' lives being extinguished leaving us the poorer for vital information flow.
Reporters do their business up-front now, writing for newspapers either state-sanctioned or in countries which celebrate a free press, and they have the comfort of knowing that secret assassinations are no longer the order of the day. Lobby groups are set up in various countries to provide moral, legal and practical support to reporters whom the state seeks to silence through imprisonment.
But there are still states who resort to murder to silence their accusers, and it would appear that Russia, Algeria and Iraq distinguish themselves by being the most egregious abusers of free speech and reporters dedicated to the uncovering of corruption and human rights abuses by their governmental authorities. Over a thousand journalists and their staff have died in the last decade alone, with Iraq and Russia at the top of the list as the deadliest countries in the world for the profession.
Reporters have been shot, blown up, beaten to death, stabbed, tortured, decapitated and poisoned. The largest majority of deaths have occurred among on-staff reporters, a small number among free-lancers, according to a recently-released report by the International News Safety Institute, located in Brussels. A paltry one in eight deaths only result in prosecution.
Mr. Safronov had recently returned from an arms fair trip to the United Arab Emirates where he uncovered a clandestine plan to restore a deal which had been challenged by the U.S. and Israel initially and then cancelled, to supply Syria with Iskander-E missiles which would give Syria strike capability deep within Israel.
And as grave as the situation is for journalist within Russia it is far worse in Iraq where Reporters Without Borders have addressed the issue, pointing out that 13 journalists and media assistants have been killed in this year alone. On Saturday in Baghdad days after being kidnapped, the bullet-riddled body of Jamal al-Zubaidi was found.
And newspaper editor Mohan al-Dahir was fatally shot in Baghdad as well on Sunday. In the past decade there were 138 deaths in Iraq, 88 in Russia, 72 in Colombia. Other countries whose reputation as killers for reporters include the Philippines, Iran, India, Mexico, Pakistan and the former republics of Yugoslavia.
In pseudo-democracies or dictatorships and sometimes a combination of both it can lead the population to declare their distrust, distaste and disavowal of their ruling elite and if the dissenting numbers are sufficient it may lead to changes upturning the situation through polite and sometimes violent revolution. In any event, those who take it upon themselves to release information known to be inimical to a governing elite's future increasingly make their lives at risk.
At one time there was an underground press of Samizdat publications which operated clandestinely for their own safety in the certain knowledge that their lives would indeed be forfeit for speaking the truth and unveiling secrets that the ruling elite tried to hide from the population. The world is changing and now looks slightly askance at deliberate political murders, all the more so when it is respected news reporters' lives being extinguished leaving us the poorer for vital information flow.
Reporters do their business up-front now, writing for newspapers either state-sanctioned or in countries which celebrate a free press, and they have the comfort of knowing that secret assassinations are no longer the order of the day. Lobby groups are set up in various countries to provide moral, legal and practical support to reporters whom the state seeks to silence through imprisonment.
But there are still states who resort to murder to silence their accusers, and it would appear that Russia, Algeria and Iraq distinguish themselves by being the most egregious abusers of free speech and reporters dedicated to the uncovering of corruption and human rights abuses by their governmental authorities. Over a thousand journalists and their staff have died in the last decade alone, with Iraq and Russia at the top of the list as the deadliest countries in the world for the profession.
Reporters have been shot, blown up, beaten to death, stabbed, tortured, decapitated and poisoned. The largest majority of deaths have occurred among on-staff reporters, a small number among free-lancers, according to a recently-released report by the International News Safety Institute, located in Brussels. A paltry one in eight deaths only result in prosecution.
"It confirms how insignificant the efforts have been to a chieve justice for journalists who are harmed or persecuted as they work to keep the world informed. We are at a perilous point in journalism: fair and accurate coverage is more necessary than ever, but the risks to those who pursue it are greater than ever, too."The report singled Russia out as a country with a growing list of slain journalists, including Anna Politkovskaya, shot and killed outside her apartment while investigating abuses by Russian troops in Chechnya. It did not include the most recent "suicide" murder of Ivan Safronov last week who died while preparing to file a story claiming that the Kremlin was secretly providing Syria with missile systems.
Mr. Safronov had recently returned from an arms fair trip to the United Arab Emirates where he uncovered a clandestine plan to restore a deal which had been challenged by the U.S. and Israel initially and then cancelled, to supply Syria with Iskander-E missiles which would give Syria strike capability deep within Israel.
And as grave as the situation is for journalist within Russia it is far worse in Iraq where Reporters Without Borders have addressed the issue, pointing out that 13 journalists and media assistants have been killed in this year alone. On Saturday in Baghdad days after being kidnapped, the bullet-riddled body of Jamal al-Zubaidi was found.
And newspaper editor Mohan al-Dahir was fatally shot in Baghdad as well on Sunday. In the past decade there were 138 deaths in Iraq, 88 in Russia, 72 in Colombia. Other countries whose reputation as killers for reporters include the Philippines, Iran, India, Mexico, Pakistan and the former republics of Yugoslavia.
Labels: Crisis Politics
posted by Pieface | 1:00 PM
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