13 Pinoys among 126 journalists who died on the job – 'News safety' group

GENEVA - A total of 126 journalists and other media workers around the world have died on the job this year, with Syria the most dangerous place to work for the second year in a row, the International News Safety Institute said on Friday.

 

That was 21 fewer than last year, but INSI said the incidence of kidnappings and disappearances was rising.

 

INSI, founded in 2003 by major world news organizations, including Reuters, and professional bodies like the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists, said the Philippines and India were the next most dangerous countries for the media after Syria, with 13 dead each.

 

In the Philippines, nine were murdered by unknown assailants and four others died while covering the recent typhoon disaster.

 

INSI said it compiled the list "in liaison with" its regional contacts, the International Press Institute and the International Federation of Journalists 

The institute.

 

The IFJ, in a separate report, said the media personnel death toll in the Philippines is "appalling" and noted that in recent weeks, four journalists were assaulted, with three of them killed:

 

- Joas Dignos (Valencia, Bukidnon, November 29)

- Michael Milo (Tandag, Surigao del Sur, December 7)

- Rogelio Butalid (Tagum City, Davao del Norte, December 11).

 

Radio reporter Jhey Villalva from Iloilo City was wounded after being shot on December 10.

 

"The Philippines is one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists," the IFJ said.

 

Citing data from its affiliate National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), the IFJ said murders were the 19th to 21st since President Benigno Aquino III assumed office in 2012.

 

It added the killings brought to 161 the number of media killings since democracy was restored in 1986.

 

“This government, which came to power on the promise of justice and human rights and “daang matuwid” (a straight path) chooses not only to downplay the enormity of the problem but denigrates the victims by deigning to dismiss some of them as ‘not legitimate,’” IFJ quoted the NUJP as saying.

 

The IFJ said global efforts to draw attention to the Philippines' record following the 2009 Ampatuan Massacre had failed to end the killings.

 

"Few murderers are ever arrested, let alone successfully brought to justice," it said. 

 

“The lack of any meaningful response from law enforcement and judicial authorities in the Philippines, and the lack of leadership or public statement against violence towards journalists from the Aquino administration means that we must maintain the fight to hold the Aquino government to account for the growing list of journalist casualties,” IFJ added.

 

Global hotspots

 

INSI said 19 of its count of the 126 dead had lost their lives in Syria.

 

In addition, at least 18 foreign and 20 Syrian journalists are believed to be missing in the country after being detained or kidnapped there, it said.

 

The London-based INSI, whose report was officially released in Geneva, did not specify whether these were believed to be held by the Syrian government forces or by Islamist insurgents who are known to be responsible for at least some of the deaths.

 

Overall the Syrian death total was down from 28 in 2012, but abductions of both foreign and local reporters increased, leading many international news organisations to stop sending journalists to cover the conflict.

 

In India, the INSI report said, seven journalists were murdered but none of their killings had been thoroughly investigated. Two were killed while covering communal violence and four died in accidents while on assignment. — with Reuters

 

In Iraq, 11 journalists have died, 10 of them murdered by armed groups and seven of them in the northern city of Mosul. In Pakistan, where bombings and targeted killings are common, nine have died, INSI said.  — Reuters