Funferal

Concern over journalists’ deaths in Iraq

Six months after the US-led invasion of Iraq, the deaths of seven journalists killed while reporting the conflict remain unexplained and clothed in secrecy, says a new report by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Families, friends and colleagues of the victims are unable to obtain full details of US military investigations into the deaths. And a growing number of IFEX members are getting increasingly agitated.

The IFJ report, “Denial of Justice on the Road to Baghdad,” examines the safety of journalists during the Iraqi conflict and focuses on the circumstances surrounding seven journalists who were killed or declared missing.
The journalists are: camera operators Jose Couso and Taras Protsyuk, killed after a US tank fired on the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad; Reporter Tareq Ayoub, killed during a US missile attack on Al-Jazeera’s Baghdad bureau; ITV reporter Terry Lloyd; and Reuters camera operator Mazen Dana, killed by a US soldier while filming outside a Baghdad prison. The report also examines the cases of ITV camera operator Fred Nerac and Lebanese translator Hussein Osman, who have been missing since March.
“In all of these cases the United States has either failed to report or has failed to publish the results of its own investigations. It is a most profound denial of justice,” the IFJ report says.
The report accuses US authorities of “flagrant disregard” for the safety of journalists by not instructing military commanders and soldiers in the field to avoid hitting media targets. IFJ is calling for new international laws to strengthen protection for media workers. “Recently, the UN Security Council strengthened protection for humanitarian workers; the same should be said for media staff,” the organisation says.
Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has filed three new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests regarding the seven journalists. It says US military authorities have provided, at best, only summary explanations for the deaths, raising questions over whether US forces are taking the necessary steps to avoid endangering journalists.
CPJ was disturbed to learn this week that no investigation into the attack on Al-Jazeera’s Baghdad bureau has been launched.
The International Press Institute (IPI) has also criticised American military authorities for refusing to publicly release the findings of their investigations into the deaths of the seven journalists. It has called for an independent tribunal to investigate the deaths. And Human Rights Watch warns that “over-aggressive reactions by U.S. military forces in Iraq are putting journalists and other civilians in unnecessary danger.”
Also, Index on Censorship has reported on the US authorities’ contradictory media strategy in Iraq
[from an IFEX cummunique]