40 Iraqi journalists/reporters, 36 Iraqi media assist workers and 2 non Iraqi media assist workers were killed in Iraq during 2006, the deadliest year of the war.

Total for 2006: 78 

     Journalist, reporter

40

     Cameraman

6

73 Male

     Photographer

1

5 Female

     Administrative

13

     Translator

1

     Driver

6

     Security guard

6

     Technician

5

Total: 78 Iraqi media professionals murdered in 2006

Source: http://www.brusselstribunal.org/JournalistKilled.htm

All the mainstream newspapers around the globe use the CPJ (Committee For The Protection of Journalists) figure of 32 journalists and 15 media support staffers. 

The BRussells Tribunal lists 70% more casualties among media professionals in 2006 than CPJ, an organization that is professionally monitoring the situation of journalists. Why? 

98 journalists and 86 media support workers of Iraqi nationality, 23 media professionals of non Iraqi nationality, have been killed since the beginning of the invasion until the end of 2006. 

Total since the invasion: 207 

Journalist, reporter

98

Cameraman

18

Photographer

4

Administrative

27

Translator

9

Driver

11

Security guard

9

Technician

8

Killed Media Professionals of Iraqi Nationality:   

                   184

Killed Media Professionals of non-Iraqi Nationality:

                    23

Source: http://www.brusselstribunal.org/JournalistKilled.htm 

Total Media professionals killed in the Iraq war:

207

In January 2007, 8 Iraqi media professionals have been killed.  

See the full list at: http://www.brusselstribunal.org/JournalistKilled.htm . Note that there may be more casualties. This list is a strict minimum. 

The BRussells Tribunal lists 60% more casualties among media professionals since the beginning of the invasion than CPJ, an organization that is professionally monitoring the situation of journalists. Why? 

How did the BRussells Tribunal compile its list?  

The Iraqi Journalists Union published a list in Al-Zawra’ newspaper (the IJU paper) no.469 on Thursday May 4, 2006, in Arabic. We translated that list.

Additional sources:

– Reporters without borders (http://www.rsf.org/special_iraq_en.php3),

– CPJ  (http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/Iraq/Iraq_danger.html),

– ICasualties (http://icasualties.org/oif/journalist.aspx)

and articles that were sent to us by Iraqis. 

This list is compiled correctly, even according to the CPJ standards.  

This is what CPJ states on its website: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/Iraq/Iraq_danger.html

JOURNALISTS KILLED ON DUTY: 92 *

Here is a statistical analysis of journalists killed in Iraq since hostilities began in March 2003, as compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists. CPJ considers a journalist to be killed on duty if the person died as a result of a hostile action—such as reprisal for his or her work, or crossfire while carrying out a dangerous assignment. CPJ does not include journalists killed in accidents, such as car or plane crashes, unless the crash was caused by aggressive human action (for example, if a plane were shot down or a car crashed trying to avoid gunfire). Nor does CPJ include journalists who died of health ailments. Capsule reports detailing each death are available by following the links below.

* In addition, CPJ keeps a separate tally of media support workers who have been killed. That number stands at 37. 

CPJ has the numbers wrong. CPJ even includes people as journalists who are not journalists: the last entry for 2006 f .i. is a cameraman, and he’s listed as a journalist:

Aswan Ahmed Lutfallah, Associated Press Television News, December 12, 2006, Mosul – Gunmen killed Lutfallah, 35, an Iraqi cameraman for APTN. 

The Reporters Without Borders website stated at the end of 2006: “139 journalists and media assistants killed since the start of fighting in Iraq in March 2003, two still missing” http://www.rsf.org/special_iraq_en.php3. Reporters Without Borders has the numbers wrong. 

The BRussells Tribunal lists 50% more casualties among media professionals since the invasion than Reporters Without Borders, an organization that is professionally monitoring the situation of journalists. Why? 

If you’re a monitoring organisation to protect journalists, if you’re a professional organisation that is created especially to do a body count of killed media professionals, is it possible to unintentionally underestimate the number of casualties s with 50 to 70%? Is it amateurism? Innocent neglect?  

I don’t want to criticize neither CPJ, nor RWB. At least they try to follow up on the situation. But downsizing the numbers is one way to minimize this conflict that is fast approaching a situation that can be defined as genocide. Everybody knows the figures of refugees from Darfur , but nobody seems to have decent figures on Iraqi refugees. And they are millions ! Why? 

Iraq is dying. The peace movement, the NGO’s and official institutions should do much more to thoroughly monitor all the sectors of Iraqi society that are under fire, even when they face difficulties doing so. The health workers. Where are the figures? Killed Imams and religious persons. Where are the figures? Prisoners. Where are the figures? Missing persons. Where are the figures? Child mortality. Where are the figures? Etc. etc.  

We don’t do body counts.

The lack of decent monitoring and all these “little mistakes” in counting are symptoms of the neglect of international humanitarian bodies who should properly monitor the disaster that is happening before their eyes. Where are the big NGO’s and other organisations?  I’m well aware that the conditions to work in Iraq are extremely difficult. But more efforts can and should be made to achieve some sort of credible overview of the catastrophe in Iraq . 

650.000 excess deaths the invaders have inflicted upon the people of Iraq . And this is a conservative estimate, an absolute minimum.  Most probably the real figure is higher than one million. It weren’t official international bodies like the UN, UNICEF, UNDP….. who ordered the Lancet Study of October 2006.  Official bodies have failed Iraq completely. 

Is it then too much to ask from specialised organisations, who defend the interests of media professionals in Iraq , to do a proper counting? 

Iraqi Journalists to Protest US Raid 

What is the US occupation doing to prevent this bloodbath and to assure that freedom of speech and democracy will prevail? 

Well, today, the Iraqi Journalists union called on for a sit-in in front of its headquarters, to protest a raid on its offices by American forces and the arresting of ten guards, and the confiscation of their weapons.  

Mr. Tamimi said that US forces staged the raid in the Kasra district of central Baghdad after hours on Monday evening Feb. 19. “American soldiers broke down the doors to employees’ offices and tampered with journalists’ files, and left the building in very vulnerable conditions with broken doors and without guards,” Tamimi said. “The union condemns this strange and irresponsible behaviour and holds these occupying forces responsible for the guards’ safety.”

Weapons confiscated by the US had been legally licensed, he added.

The US military has not commented on the raid.

Kidnapped Iraqi Journalist Found Killed

Meanwhile the daily massacre of Iraq ’s media professionals continues unabated.

Yesterday, Feb. 20, two bodies of a journalist and his cousin, who were kidnapped last week, were found in Baghdad. “Two bullet-riddled bodies belonging to Abdel Razeq Hashim al-Khaqani, a journalist who was working as an editor in the Iraqi radio, and his cousin, were found in forensic medicine department in Baghdad . The two men were kidnapped by an armed group last week in al-Jihad neighbourhood in western Baghdad while visiting their relatives”, he noted. 

You thought that US occupation forces were in Iraq to prevent the outbreak of a civil war?

You better think again. The Occupation forces will stay in Iraq as long as is needed to create a full scale civil war and to help the militia’s to achieve that goal, until the last Iraqi protest voice is silenced.

We can’t let that happen. What can we do the help the Iraqis? Make sure that the coalition forces leave Iraq immediately and start recognizing the national popular resistance as the only force capable of restoring order, peace and justice.

I can’t formulate it better than with the words of the Iraqi blogger Riverbend in her weblog yesterday. Her words should be on the website of every Western peace activist who has doubts about the option of an immediate withdrawal.

“As the situation continues to deteriorate both for Iraqis inside and outside of Iraq , and for Americans inside Iraq , Americans in America are still debating on the state of the war and occupation- are they winning or losing? Is it better or worse.

Let me clear it up for any moron with lingering doubts: It’s worse. It’s over. You lost. You lost the day your tanks rolled into Baghdad to the cheers of your imported, American-trained monkeys. You lost every single family whose home your soldiers violated. You lost every sane, red-blooded Iraqi when the Abu Ghraib pictures came out and verified your atrocities behind prison walls as well as the ones we see in our streets. You lost when you brought murderers, looters, gangsters and militia heads to power and hailed them as Iraq ’s first democratic government. You lost when a gruesome execution was dubbed your biggest accomplishment. You lost the respect and reputation you once had. You lost more than 3000 troops. That is what you lost America . I hope the oil, at least, made it worthwhile.
 

Dirk Adriaensens is a Member of the BRussells Tribunal executive committee