21 September 2005
TWO JOURNALISTS KILLED
In Iraq, two journalists were kidnapped and murdered last week, prompting the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) to raise serious concerns about the safety of journalists in the conflict-ridden country.
On 16 September 2005, unidentified assailants abducted Hind Ismail in the northern city of Mosul, reported CPJ. Her body was found the next morning with a single bullet wound in the head. Ismail, 28, was a reporter for the daily newspaper "As-Saffir".
On 18 September, gunmen claiming to be police officers abducted "New York Times" reporter and photographer Fakher Haider from his home in Basra. They told his wife that they were going to interrogate Haider for a few hours and bring him back. His body was found the next day. He was shot in the head and he had bruises on his back. Haider, 38, had worked for the "New York Times" for more than two years. He also freelanced for Merbad TV, a local Basra station, the "Guardian" in London, "National Geographic" and other publications. He was married with three small children.
The "New York Times" says Haider recently reported on the growing friction and violence among Basra's rival Shiite militias, which are widely believed to have infiltrated the police. He is the second journalist to be killed in Basra in the past two months. In August, Steven Vincent, an American freelance reporter, was kidnapped along with his Iraqi interpreter. He was later found dead. The interpreter remains hospitalized.
According to IFJ, the murders of Ismail and Haider bring the number of journalists and media workers killed in Iraq to 26 this year. The organisation says it is pressing for a clear statement from the UN Security Council to highlight the threats facing journalists and media staff working in conflict zones.
For the past two years, IFJ has been working with local journalists to promote safety and strengthen journalistic independence in Iraq. Last August, it led a meeting of more than 40 media professionals from journalists? groups across the country, which adopted a Charter for Social and Professional Rights (http://tinyurl.com/75fzt).
Visit these links:
- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Iraq19sept05na.html
- Journalists in Danger: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/Iraq/Iraq_danger.html
- IFJ: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=3388&Language=EN
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/special_iraq_en.php3
- The Basra Connection: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1788879,00.html
- New York Times Mourns Colleague's Death: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/20/international/middleeast/20basra.html
- Iraq: The Media War: http://media.guardian.co.uk/iraqandthemedia/0,12823,883261,00.html
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