Appeal to the Journalist Organisations

http://brusselstribunal.org/

Appeal to the Journalist Organisations:
Please fulfil your duties towards your Iraqi colleagues.

Dirk Adriaensens, member BRussells Tribunal executive committee, 07 November 2008.

The president of the Iraqi Syndicate of Journalists said on Thursday 6 November 2008, that the number of Iraqi journalists who have been killed in Iraq since March 2003 reached 292, including cameramen and technicians (see the article underneath).

This is more or less in accordance with the tallies the BRussells Tribunal keeps: 298 Iraqi media professionals died in Iraq (see underneath).

If you add to these figures the non-Iraqi media professionals who died in Iraq while fulfilling their duties, the death toll reaches 328 (including 6 journalists who died of non-violent causes).

Now let’s see how the respected “specialised journalist organisations” honour their colleagues in Iraq.

* The Freedom Forum – Journalist Memorial lists 153 casualties. These include both Iraqi and non Iraqi media professionals, an under-estimation of 115%. http://www.newseum.org/scripts/Journalist/peril.asp

* The Committee For The Protection of Journalists (CPJ): Journalists Killed on Duty: 135 - media support workers who have been killed: 51. These include both Iraqi and non Iraqi media professionals, an under-estimation of 76%. http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/Iraq/Iraq_danger.html

* Reporters without borders (RSF): 222 journalists and media assistants killed since the start of fighting in Iraq in March 2003. These include both Iraqi and non Iraqi media professionals, an under-estimation of 48%. http://www.rsf.org/special_iraq_en.php3

* International News Safety Institute (INSI): Iraq War Casualties - From March 2003 to the present day: 252. These include both Iraqi and non Iraqi media professionals, an under-estimation of 30%. http://www.newssafety.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=109&Itemid=100190

We have written to all these Western organisations, had mail exchanges with most of them. We asked them to adjust their figures or show us where we made mistakes. Yet, they didn’t adjust their figures or eventually point out “mistakes”. We find this morally wrong.

Yet again we ask these organisations: “fulfil your duties. May no media professional be forgotten while reporting the nightmare of Iraq”.

Please, contact the Iraqi Syndicate of Journalists and ask them to have a look into their lists in order to complete your database.

Further reading:

* At least 78 media professionals killed in Iraq in 2006 - Dirk Adriaensens, BRussells Tribunal, 21 Feb 2007
* Another U.S. Military Assault on Media - Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily, 23 Feb 2007
* Disparate Tallies: Journalist Deaths in Iraq - Eason Jordan, 01 June 2007
* The betrayal of Iraq’s media professionals - Dirk Adriaensens, BRussells Tribunal, 29 Sep 200

292 Iraqi journalists killed in Iraq since 2003 – syndicate

Baghdad, 06 November 2008 ( Voices of Iraq )
The number of Iraqi journalists who have been killed in Iraq since March 2003 reached 292, including cameramen and technicians, the president of the Syndicate of Journalists said on Thursday.
“The statistics made by the syndicate pointed out that 18 journalists have been kidnapped and their fate still unknown,” Mu’ayad al-Lami told Aswat al-Iraq.
“There are no journalists detained by the government’s forces, while there are three held by U.S. army for unknown reasons,” he explained.
He called to speed up the approval of the protecting journalists’ law.
http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php?refid=DH-S-07-11-2008&article=39484

Death toll of Media professionals in Iraq, as listed by the BRussells Tribunal
Full list at http://www.brusselstribunal.org/JournalistKilled.htm