Ongoing violence sees rising concern for journalists’ safety

The death of an Iraqi reporter in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul last week heightened fears among journalists, who are increasingly becoming targets for insurgents, they say. “Iraq has become a dead region for journalists,” said Khalid Samim, of the Iraqi Journalists Association (IJA). “There’s no safety.” Samim said the association had received reports of more than 65 threats against Iraqi journalists from insurgents since the war began. “Some who insisted on staying in Iraq are dead now,” he noted. “It’s our duty to transmit information to the world, but in exchange, we get bullets through our heads.” The war in Iraq has seen a total of 96 people working in the media killed since it began in March 2003, according to the IJA both by insurgents and mistakenly by the US forces. International watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RWB) considers the conflict the most deadly for reporters since the Vietnam War. The city of Mosul and the western Anbar governorate are considered among the most dangerous, due to the high number of insurgents reportedly in the area. They claim that “journalists are all followers of the US-led force in the country,” as was proclaimed by one insurgent website. Journalists, meanwhile, say the rampant insecurity is hampering their ability to work. “Each time I come to Iraq, I feel it will be my last time, because anything can happen,” said British freelance journalist Peter Gordy. Yunis Jihad, a journalist for the local Iraq Today newspaper, said: “I have a family to look after. I don’t know any other trade. I have to take the risk if I want to eat.” A bomb attack on 24 October near two hotels frequented by foreigners and journalists in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad further raised concerns about journalists’ security. In a 9 November press conference, RWB officials also expressed their indignation over the murder of local Iraqi journalist Ahmed Hussein Al Maliki. Insurgents kidnapped Maliki over two months ago, RWB said, and his body was discovered on 7 November. "Journalists have been deliberately targeted in recent months, and there are reasons for thinking the situation won’t improve soon," RWB said in a statement. Both local and foreign journalists agree that the high death toll and rising number of attacks suggest that the situation is worsening. “The killing of journalists is an act of aggression against press freedom, and reveals that there are people who want to prevent the truth from being published,” said Ali Rifat, a journalist for British newspaper The Sunday Times. Rifat remains determined, however, to continue working. He said, “If we stop our work, we’ll just give [the attackers] a chance to control the situation.”