International concerns over journalists' safety

As Press Freedom Day is marked around the world on Monday, international media organisations expressed their concern about the safety of journalists operating in Iraq and called for further investigations into the latest deaths of two Iraqi journalists at the hands of US soldiers. "I am extremely concerned on the safety of journalists in Iraq. We consider the country currently one of the most dangerous places in the world for a journalist to operate, because we feel there are multiple risks that are not necessarily common in other conflict areas," Sarah De Jong, deputy director with the International News Safety Institute (INSI), told IRIN from Brussels. INSI has organised a conference for 5 May, one year after its foundation, to discuss the problems related to journalists' safety in Iraq and the risks that they are facing while operating in the country. Representatives of international press freedom organisations, such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and international media such as BBC and Reuters, will be taking part. Since the war started in March 2003, at least 23 journalists have lost their lives during the ongoing conflict. Six of them were killed by US forces, according to RSF. Following the recent deaths of cameraman Ali Abdel-Aziz (Al-Iraqiya) and reporter Ali Al-Khatib (Al-Iraqiya) on 19 March, when US soldiers allegedly shot them after the journalist started to film a US base, RSF called on the US government for a proper investigation. "All these killings are intolerable and tragic, and should force the US government to wonder about the attitude and behaviour of its troops towards the press, which is all the more suspect as nothing of this kind has occurred with the other military contingents in Iraq, including the British contingent controlling the south of the country," RSF said. The press freedom organisation also noted the need to conduct a clear investigation into the previous killings of four journalists - Tarek Ayyoub, Taras Protsyuk, Jose Couso and Mazen Dana - and called on the Pentagon to clarify the circumstances in which they died. De Jong explained that INSI is promoting a dialogue between the US government, the British Ministry of Defence and the press community to discuss with both sides about the changes that need to be made. "There is a dialogue and both sides are willing to acknowledge responsibilities and at least try to come up with some concrete solutions. [There are] also responsibilities from the media side, because, for example, sometimes journalists go into areas where they should certainly not have gone," she said. Mike White, a freelance journalist based in New Zealand who worked across Iraq in 2003, said that journalists do have to be on guard. "I was sensible, I listened to the warnings of local people, surrounded myself with trustworthy fixers/translators and drivers, and for part of my time there travelled and worked with other journalists to improve safety," he told IRIN on Monday. "I dealt with Coalition troops on many occasions, some good, some bad. I was threatened with being put in jail by one for taking a photo in an area where there was nothing to suggest it was prohibited," he added. According to De Jong, the main risk for journalists is that they are dealing with armed individuals from local resistance groups who don't know international law and the right of press freedom, but she also considered the risks of a "relatively new phenomenon" of Arab journalists and a newly developed Iraq press facing different problems to the international media. "We have heard a lot of reports in which Arab media have been discriminated against compared to international colleagues by, for example, the Coalition forces. This is not necessarily standard, but there have been isolated incidents," she remarked. "On the other hand, Arab media, such as Al-Jazeera, may have more access to inform on Al-Qaeda and deliver its messages. But if they don't want to play those messages this also might put them under risk