9 March 2005
US FORCES BLAMED FOR SHOOTING JOURNALISTS
The US military is facing renewed criticism from press freedom groups for its role in the killing of journalists in Iraq, following the wounding of Italian reporter Giuliana Sgrena and the death of a Kurdish journalist last week.
The International Press Institute (IPI), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) are demanding a full explanation as to why US soldiers opened fire on a car carrying Sgrena on 4 March 2005.
Accompanied by Italian secret service agents, Sgrena was on her way to Baghdad airport after being released by Iraqi insurgents following a month-long kidnapping ordeal. US soldiers at a military checkpoint fired on the car, killing one secret service agent and wounding Sgrena.
The US government claims the soldiers opened fire after the car - traveling at high speed - refused to slow down as it approached the checkpoint. Sgrena says the car was not going particularly fast and came under a "hail of fire." She is recovering from a minor shoulder operation after receiving shrapnel wounds.
RSF says the UN should conduct an inquiry into the incident because the Pentagon's track record of investigating the shooting of journalists by US troops inspires little confidence. "The US army, especially in the case of the Palestine Hotel [incident], has produced reports aimed solely at exonerating the military," the group says.
In April 2003, two journalists died after a US tank fired on the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad (see: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=9045). The US military has denied responsibility for the deaths.
Meanwhile, on 12 February 2005, Dler Karam Ali died from injuries sustained in a shooting three days earlier when US troops fired on his car, reported IFJ. Ali was passing through a US military checkpoint between Baghdad and the northern city of Darbandikhan when soldiers asked his car to stop. After Ali's driver refused, US soldiers opened fire on the car.
Ali was a Kurdish journalist who worked for two newspapers - "Al-Ittihad Al-Isalmi" and "Al-Ofoq Al-Islami". He was also a member of the Kurdistan Syndicate of Journalists.
IFJ says Ali is the 13th journalist killed by US soldiers in Iraq since March 2003. According to CPJ, US military fire is the second-leading cause of journalists' deaths in the country.
Visit:
- IPI: http://www.freemedia.at/Protests2005/pr_Iraq08.03.05.htm
- RSF:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=12761
- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2003/gulf03/iraq_conflict_main.html
- IFJ: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?index=2246&Language=EN
- Questions Remain Over US Treatment of Journalists: http://www.cpj.org/op_ed/comment_jcamp_17feb05.html
- The Palestine Hotel Incident: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2003/palestine_hotel/palestine_hotel.html
- International News Safety Institute: http://www.newssafety.com/casualties/iraqcasualties.doc
- "Friendly Fire" Takes Toll on Iraqi Civilians: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000828863
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