Record 70 reporters killed worldwide in 2009: Rights group



Record 70 reporters killed worldwide in 2009: Rights group United Nations: A record total of 70 journalists were killed in their work around the world last year, including 31 in the Philippines, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in its annual survey.

The 350-page report released yesterday said the record toll was driven by the mass, election-related killings in the Philippines' Maguindanao province, the deadliest event for the press in CPJ history and escalating violence in Somalia.

The survey titled "Attacks on the Press in 2009" noted that last year's tally surpassed the previous record of 67 deaths set in 2007 when violence in Iraq was pervasive. Some 41 fatalities were recorded in 2008.

The survey, which was unveiled ata press conference here Tuesday, identified 136 reporters, editors and photojournalists behind bars as of last December 1, up 11 from 2008.

As in the previous 10 years, China remained the world's worst jailer of journalists last year -- 24 held, including 22 freelancers -- followed by Iran, Cuba, Eritrea and Myanmar.

Maziar Bahari, an Iranian-Canadian correspondent for Newsweek who was jailed in Iran in June and released four months later, told reporters that more than 100 journalists, bloggers and writers had been arrested in Iran at different periods since last June's disputed presidential polls, including more than 65 who were still behind bars.

PTI