Iraqi journalists under fire

The Iraqi Journalists Union published a report and lists of the Iraqi journalists who were killed in the last 3 years. The list took 5 months of working on the ground, documenting when, where, how and by whom, the journalists were killed as follows:

This statistics show that the Iraqi journalist is targeted by everybody, but the question remains who is responsible for targeting them and for the lack of protection journalists among other Iraqis need. The occupying troops or the Iraqi troops, or both? For it is illogical to imagine that the American or the Iraqi authorities would hold the (unknown) armed men responsible, while they themselves are responsible of shooting 19 journalists apart from the killing of many others in fighting. In all of the other cases, these authorities are indirectly responsible for these killings, as they are responsible of providing safe environment for journalists to work in.

The bitter irony is that the freedom of speech and media (as in all other Iraqi issues like democracy and human rights) was one of the pretexts which the American administration used in invading and occupying Iraq. What kind of freedom a journalist has when his life is threatened?

The international community has to play an active rule in protecting the Iraqi journalists through creating an independent international committee to investigate the daily violations that the Iraqi journalists are exposed to, and to present those who are responsible, no matter of which nationality they are, to the international court.

*The biggest part of list was published in Al-Zawra' newspaper (the IJU paper) no.469 on Thursday May4, 2006, in Arabic.

Two Iraqi journalists were found dead south of Baghdad on Monday a day after they were stopped by men wearing police uniforms, the manager of their television station said.

The bodies of Laith al-Dulaimi and Muazaz Barood were discovered at midday near their hometown of Madain, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of the capital, said Abdul-Karim al-Mehdawi, general manager of Al-Nahrain TV, a private station.

He quoted witnesses as saying the pair were driving to Madain on Sunday when they were stopped on the highway by men wearing police uniforms who took them away. Their bodies were brought to the morgue in Kut, officials there said.

The latest deaths bring to at least 70 the number of journalists who have been killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March 2003, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalism. Nearly 73 percent of them have been Iraqi.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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 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.

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?

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

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."

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 to 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 on 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.

Disparate Tallies: Journalist Deaths in Iraq

The Deadliest War Ever for Journalists: Why the Numbers Don't Sync Up

By EASON JORDAN 01 June 2007.

Reported Deaths	2007	2003-Now

Cmte to Protect Journalists	13	143	104 journalists, 39 media workers
Intl News Safety Institute	37	209
Iraqi Journalists Assoc.	N/A	214
Reporters Without Borders	26	181
Intl Fed. of Journalists	33	206
BRussells Tribunal	46	276

Four more journalists were killed in Iraq this week.

Indisputably, the war in Iraq is the deadliest war for journalists in recorded history.

But when it comes to the question of exactly how deadly, the agreement ends and the disputes begin.

Read on to learn why the tallies for this conflict differ and why it's unfair to compare all but one of those tallies to the toll of journalists killed in previous wars.

This conflict is unprecedented in at least two ways when it comes to news organization worker deaths and the tracking of those deaths.

Not only is this deadliest war ever in recorded history for journalists and media workers, but those deaths are being tracked by more organizations than during any previous war.

Their tallies differ largely because their count criteria differ, and some are better than others at tracking deaths and adding them to their tally in a timely manner.

For the past three decades, the running tally maintained by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been the gold standard in reliable tracking of journalist killings.

The CPJ tally is by far the most widely quoted and respected tally among news organizations.

In recent years, other groups began tracking journalist deaths independently in part because they felt the CPJ count was incomplete.

For years, the CPJ counted only "journalists killed on duty."

That excluded journalists who died due to accident, ailment, and suicide, and it excluded altogether non-journalist news media workers, including drivers, translators/interpreters, and security guards -- key contributors to the news gathering and reporting process in Iraq.

Those excluded categories did not sit well with some news organizations and journalists, prompting the launch of several other death toll tallies.

Perhaps in part due to those concerns, starting with this Iraq war, the CPJ for the first time began tracking the killing of non-journalist media workers, and the CPJ maintains those tallies separately -- now 104 journalists killed and 39 media workers killed in Iraq.

Still, the CPJ criteria for inclusion in either tally remains the narrowest of all of the now at least six tallies kept of journalist and media worker deaths in Iraq.

The other tallies combine journalists and non-journalist news media employee deaths, although not all those tallies include deaths due to non-hostile means.

While I have great admiration and respect for the CPJ and its consistent, clearly defined criteria for tracking, I expressed concern in an International Herald Tribune op-ed last year about the CPJ tallies because they don't fully reflect the journalist and media worker death toll in Iraq.

I believe death tolls should use consistent criteria.

The most widely reported death toll in Iraq -- that of U.S. military personnel -- is today 3,475.

But, to be clear, that's "death toll," not a tally of "killed."

Today and most every day, you are likely to see many news organizations report the U.S. military toll by using the words "death" and "killed" interchangeably.

To be precise, the tally of those killed is 2,855, with 620 dying by ways other than hostile means.

Yet it's the 3,475 number that gets all the attention, and that number includes the deaths of all U.S. military personnel (drivers, back office personnel, etc) for all reasons (although excluding military contractors).

In my view, it's wrong for news organizations to routinely report the all-inclusive number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq, but then in reporting on journalist deaths to use a different, narrower reporting criteria.

I do not fault the CPJ, which has been consistent and precise in its criteria and tracking, and the CPJ tallies are needed, as well, for the sake of comparison to the tally of journalist deaths in previous conflicts.

The non-CPJ tallies serve an important, useful purpose for this Iraq conflict, but those broadly-defined overall tallies cannot be compared to the narrower criteria tallies of journalists killed in previous wars.

In fairness to news consumers who should not be expected to parse the tallies and especially to all the journalists and media workers who've lost their life in this conflict, news organizations should be consistent in reporting death tolls in Iraq -- routinely all-inclusive counts, or routinely narrowly-defined counts.

But the opposite occurs today -- military deaths are reported as an all-inclusive tally, while news organization employee deaths are usually reported using narrower criteria, shortchanging news consumers and those news organization employees who have paid the ultimate price.

Now, can we come up with a consensus all-inclusive journalist/media worker death tally rather than these disparate counts?

Other Wars/Reported Killings

Algeria (1993-96)	58
Colombia (1986-Present)	54
Balkans (1991-95)	36
Philippines (1983-87)	36
Turkey (1984-99)	22
Tajikistan (1992-96)	16
Sierra Leone (1997-2000)	15
Afghanistan (2001-04)	9
Somalia (1993-95)	9
Kosovo (1999-2001)	7
First Iraq War (2001)	4
Central America (1979-89)	89
Argentina (1976-83)	98
Vietnam (1955-75)	66
Korea	17
World War Two	68
World War One	2

Tallies from CPJ and Freedom Forum (bottom six)

http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/3028/Disparate_Tallies_Journalist_Deaths_in_Iraq

(Dirk Adriaensens, member BRussells Tribunal executive Committee, 29 September 2007)

A new landmark in the Iraq catastrophe, and a new landmark in history altogether: at least 300 media professionals have died in Iraq.

Suhad Al-Khalidi, reporter for Iraqi Media Network, was killed by US troops on 4 February 2007 when their patrol passed by her car in Hilla. Three guards working for the government funded al-Iraqiya TV were killed by fire of foreign security guards in central Baghdad on 7 February 2007. Foreign security guards accompanying a delegation shot and killed the three guards. Rasoul Abdul Hussein, a reporter, was killed together with his wife in Diwaniya on 21 February 2007. Hamid Mohammed Salih, a program director for the Dijlah radio station, was assassinated in the Jami'a district 0n 19 March 2007. Mohammed Jassim Yousif, a reporter for the Iraqi Media Network, was assassinated west of Baghdad on 31 March. Zeena Shakir Mahmoud, former radio broadcaster, now writing about women's affairs for the Al-Haqiqa newspaper, was shot to death on 24 June 2007, when she was on her way home from work in Mosul. Abdul Khaliq al-Habir al-Anbaki, a caricaturist in al-Mutamar newspaper, was killed along with his 11-member-family in the car bombing attack that took place on 27 July 2007 in Karrada, central Baghdad.

The two things these murders have in common is that these persons were Iraqi media professionals and that their assassination, which occurred in 2007, went unreported by CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists), and RSF (Reporters Without Borders). These casualties are listed on the BRussells Tribunal website (http://www.brusselstribunal.org/JournalistKilled.htm) and their cases were taken from different press reports.

Where is the applied ethics of Western journalists? What is happening with the solidarity between Western media professionals and their Iraqi colleagues? Did these killings not take place? Were they not mentioned in one or another press report? Why are they not listed then?

Different journalists organisations defend the interests of their colleagues and/or compile lists of killed media professionals in occupied Iraq: CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists), RSF (Reporters Without Borders), INSI (International News Safety Institute) – closely linked with the IFJ (International Federation of Journalists), ICasualties (Iraq Coalition Casualty Count), (IFEX) International Freedom of Expression Exchange - who collect most of their data from RSF-, and others, like UNESCO.

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. They list only 26 Media professionals killed in 2007, of which 5 in a list of pending investigations into suspicious deaths, called Killed: Motive Unconfirmed.

The Freedom Forum Journalists Memorial (Newseum) staffers claim to compile their list from information circulated by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the International Press Institute, the International Freedom of Expression Clearing House, Reporters Sans Frontières, the International Federation of Journalists, the Inter American Press Association, news stories and other sources. A whole lot of sources, it seems. They list only 28 journalists killed in Iraq in 2007.

Reporters without Borders lists only 50 killed media professionals in 2007. INSI lists 57 casualties in 2007.

The BRussells Tribunal lists 300 deceased media professionals since the illegal invasion until now, of which 271 are Iraqi Nationals. 6 died of “non-violent” causes. All the others are violent deaths. The number for 2007 stands at 72 killed media professionals, of which 71 are Iraqis. The latest casualty being an Iraqi newspaper correspondent, Abdul-Khaliq Nasser, who was fatally wounded in a rocket attack in Mosul on 28^th September 2007.

The mainstream media worldwide take over the inaccurate figures of CPJ and RSF. Here’s what one usually reads in an article about yet another killing of a media professional:

“According to Reporters Without Borders at least X journalists and media assistants have been killed in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003; two are missing and 13 are currently being held hostage. Their number may be higher than the CPJ figure quoted above because it includes media assistants as well as journalists.”

“The CPJ count is the most widely cited number in reporting on journalist deaths in Iraq. But the CPJ tally of 61 is misunderstood and incomplete because it excludes dozens of journalists and news organization employees killed or who otherwise died on assignment in Iraq.”, Eason Jordan writes in the IHT on 08 February 2006.

The US Administration, the Brookings Institution, you name it, they all use CPJ, RSF and ICasualties figures of killed media professionals. One would expect that lists of murdered colleagues are compiled with the greatest care, given the importance official bodies attach to these figures. That is not the case. The negligence with which the lists are compiled is revolting. It is another sign of either self-censorship or deliberate downplaying of casualties, something we’re seeing happening with the surveys of civilian casualties in Iraq. The media don’t use the scientific studies of the Lancet or the credible polls of ORB, the media use the inaccurate and misleading figures of the Iraq Bodycount Iraq Bodycount, an organisation that lists only what the Western media reports. A clear case of inbreeding. A clear case of imitating “His Master’s Voice”.

Please have a look at some figures. These include Journalists, Media workers and unconfirmed cases.

Al-Iraqiya director general Habib al-Sadr told AFP last month that at least 75 members of his staff have been killed since he took over the channel in 2005 and another 68 wounded. The BRussells Tribunal list of killed media professionals has less than 1/3^rd of this number in its database. So by extrapolation we could conclude that we have listed only about 1/3^rd of the real casualties of media professionals in the Iraq war. Why is this claim not being further investigated? Habib al-Sadr’s words are meant for sceptic people who think that the BRussells Tribunal figures have been artificially inflated.

Do I sound too harsh for the Western media organisations? I don’t think so. I’ve written to CPJ and received a meaningless answer. I wrote to RSF and received no answer. I’ve written to many media outlets and received no reaction. I’ve also sent them a previous article: “At least 78 media professionals killed in Iraq in 2006.”, dated 21 February 2007. No reactions, no comment.

Further research indicates that at least 90 media professionals have been killed in 2006, not 78. Here is the number of killed media professionals by year, according to different press accounts.

Let’s have a closer look at the figures for 2007. Let’s have a look – as an example - at the media professionals that CPJ doesn’t include in its list. Conclude for yourself if these deaths would have to be included or not. And ask yourself why they have not been included. There is a link to the media that have reported these killings.

These 45 Iraqi media professionals deserve to be remembered, especially by organisations that claim to defend their interests. Looking at these figures is a good reason for journalists not to use CPJ's tallies anymore in an article about the killing of a journalist. It's not a decent thing to list only 36 % of the reported casualties and leave out 64%. There can be no valid reason to underreport so grossly.

But there's more. The most striking absent journalist in CPJ's database is Yasser Salihee (or Yassir Al-Salihi). Knight-Ridder reporter, Yasser Salihee, 30, was killed on June 24, 2005 while driving his car. He came into a Baghdad road intersection where every exit had been blocked by U.S. Humvees. He died of a single shot to the head. A report by Salon.com, which interviewed the supposed sniper --but did not identify him-- painted the incident as an unpremeditated, accidental killing. But details of the scene and the events later revealed have the hallmarks of a staged assassination. At the time Salihee entered the intersection, all other exits were blocked. And as he approached, another car already in place began 'turning' in front of Salihee to bring him to a halt in the killing zone and ensure a perfect shot. The windshield of his car appeared to be pierced by only one bullet -the fatal one. Four fingers of his right hand were missing -possibly in vain self-defense. At the time he was killed, he was investigating the activities of the death squads in Iraq. There is reasonable doubt about whether this incident was a murder or an accident. Read f.i. Anatomy of a Shooting: A Civilian's Death in Iraq. Yet CPJ doesn't even list Yasser Salihee in their special unconfirmed cases for 2005. He just disappeared from CPJ's database. That is remarkable and very suspicious. And certainly not impartial.

I would like to plead for a serious count of killed media professionals who died in this bloody war. Or is the life of an Iraqi media worker less worth than that of his colleagues in the West, where killed journalists are meticulously counted?

I would also like to plead for the creation of an independent journalists organisation that can really defend the interests of journalists in Iraq, and is not linked in one way or another to the mainstream media that are owned by the very same people who have advocated for this war to take place, who keep on defending the occupation and remain silent about the catastrophic situation that is being rightfully defined by ever more people as a genocide.

Appeal to the Journalist Organisations:

Please fulfil your duties towards your Iraqi colleagues.

Dirk Adriaensens, member BRussells Tribunal executive committee, 07 November 2008.

The president of the Iraqi Syndicate of Journalists said on Thursday 6 November 2008, that the number of Iraqi journalists who have been killed in Iraq since March 2003 reached 292, including cameramen and technicians (see the article underneath).

This is more or less in accordance with the tallies the BRussells Tribunal keeps: 298 Iraqi media professionals died in Iraq (see underneath).

If you add to these figures the non-Iraqi media professionals who died in Iraq while fulfilling their duties, the death toll reaches 328 (including 6 journalists who died of non-violent causes).

Now let’s see how the respected “specialised journalist organisations” honour their colleagues in Iraq.

* The BRussells Tribunal lists 175 more cases than the Freedom Forum – Journalist Memorial whose list contains 153 casualties. These include both Iraqi and non Iraqi media professionals. http://www.newseum.org/scripts/Journalist/peril.asp

* The BRussells Tribunal lists 142 more cases than The Committee For The Protection of Journalists (CPJ): Journalists Killed on Duty: 135 - media support workers who have been killed: 51. These include both Iraqi and non Iraqi media professionals. http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/Iraq/Iraq_danger.html

* The BRussells Tribunal lists 106 more cases than Reporters without borders (RSF): 222 journalists and media assistants killed since the start of fighting in Iraq in March 2003. These include both Iraqi and non Iraqi media professionals. http://www.rsf.org/special_iraq_en.php3

* The BRussells Tribunal lists 76 more cases than the International News Safety Institute (INSI): Iraq War Casualties - From March 2003 to the present day: 252. These include both Iraqi and non Iraqi media professionals. http://www.newssafety.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=109&Itemid=100190

We have written to all these Western organisations, had mail exchanges with most of them. We asked them to adjust their figures or show us where we made mistakes. Yet, they didn’t adjust their figures or eventually point out “mistakes”. We find this morally wrong.

Once again we ask these organisations:

“Fulfil your duties. May no media professional be forgotten while reporting the nightmare of Iraq”.

"Please, contact the Iraqi Syndicate of Journalists and ask them to have a look into their lists in order to complete your database."

Journalist, reporter	40
Cameraman	6	73 Male
Photographer	1	5 Female
Administrative	13
Translator	1
Driver	6
Security guard	6
Technician	5
	Total: 78 media professionals murdered in 2006 Source: http://www.brusselstribunal.org/JournalistKilled.htm

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

CPJ	Committee to Protect Journalists	Not reported: 132 violent deaths
RSF	Reporters Without Borders	Not reported: 92 violent deaths
INSI	International News Safety Institute	Not reported: 68 violent deaths
ICAS	Iraq Coalition Casualty Count	Not reported: 163 violent deaths
NEWSEUM	Freedom Forum Journalists Memorial	Not reported: 170 violent deaths

CPJ	Committee to Protect Journalists	Not reported: 45 violent deaths
RSF	Reporters Without Borders	Not reported: 20 violent deaths
INSI	International News Safety Institute	Not reported: 14 violent deaths
ICAS	Iraq Coalition Casualty Count	Not reported: 42 violent deaths
NEWSEUM	Freedom Forum Journalists Memorial	Not reported: 44 violent deaths

Iraq war deadliest conflict for media professionals.			(List: 29 September 2007)
Year	Iraqi media workers killed	Non Iraqi	Total
2003	6	19	25
2004	51	6	57
2005	55	1	56
2006	88	2	90
2007	71	1	72
Total:	271	29	300

Khoudr Younes al-Obaidi	Freelance journalist	12/01/2007	Armed men opened fire on Khoudr Younes al-Obaidi in the evening of 12 January as he returned to his home in Mosul, police said. The journalist, who was as a stringer for several titles, worked mostly for Al-Diwan, the press organ of local tribes. No motiv
Yassin Aid Assef	Al Sabah’s correspondent	14/01/2007	killed by a bomb while out covering a story in Baghdad
Falah Khalaf Al Diyali	journalist of the daily Al Saha	15/01/2007	shot dead by unidentified gunmen on 15 January in the city of Ramadi
Unknown	employee of the governmental daily Al Sabah	16/01/2007	Four employees of the governmental daily Al Sabah were killed in an especially horrifying manner from 12 to 16 January. Two, whose names have not been revealed, were kidnapped from the newspaper’s offices in Baghdad on 12 January and were found with their throats cut the next day near Al Nouman hospital.
Unknown	employee of the governmental daily Al Sabah	16/01/2007	Four employees of the governmental daily Al Sabah were killed in an especially horrifying manner from 12 to 16 January. Two, whose names have not been revealed, were kidnapped from the newspaper’s offices in Baghdad on 12 January and were found with their throats cut the next day near Al Nouman hospital.
Unknown	security guard Al Sabah	16/01/2007	A security guard’s body was found on the newspaper’s roof on 16 January. The newspaper, which did not want to give out his name, said he was probably shot from a distance with a hunting rifle while patrolling the building’s roof.
Salih Mehdi	Mustaqbal radio station	17/01/2007	http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2215/18_Iraqi_Journalists_Killed_in_2007
Mohammed Nuri	Reporter Iraqi Media Network, assassinated in the Ninewa governorate	20/01/2007	http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2215/18_Iraqi_Journalists_Killed_in_2007
Baha' Hussein Khalaf	Reporter Iraqi Media Network, assassinated in the Ninewa governorate	20/01/2007	http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2215/18_Iraqi_Journalists_Killed_in_2007
Dhiaa' Mugotar	editor in chief of the Protection of Consumers business magazine, is assassinated in Adhamiya	24/01/2007	http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2215/18_Iraqi_Journalists_Killed_in_2007
Munjid Al-Tumaimi	Freelance photographer	28/01/2007	http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=20929
Sabir Amid Mahdi	reporter, killed in a car bombing in the Babel governate	2/02/2007	http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2215/18_Iraqi_Journalists_Killed_in_2007
Suhad Al-Khalidi	Reporter for Iraqi Media Network, killed by US troops when their patrol passes by her car in Hilla	4/02/2007	http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2215/18_Iraqi_Journalists_Killed_in_2007 An Accident of War The family of Iraqi journalist Suhad Shakir Fadhil display a picture of her with candles after she was likely mistaken for a bomber by Western security and shot dead
Unknown	security guard	7/02/2007	Three guards working for the government funded al-Iraqiya TV were killed by fire of foreign security guards in central Baghdad, a media source said. Foreign security guards accompanying a delegation shot and killed three guards working for al-Iraqiya TV.
Unknown	security guard	7/02/2007	Three guards working for the government funded al-Iraqiya TV were killed by fire of foreign security guards in central Baghdad, a media source said. Foreign security guards accompanying a delegation shot and killed three guards working for al-Iraqiya TV.
Unknown	security guard	7/02/2007	Three guards working for the government funded al-Iraqiya TV were killed by fire of foreign security guards in central Baghdad, a media source said. Foreign security guards accompanying a delegation shot and killed three guards working for al-Iraqiya TV
Hussein Al Zubaydi	journalist with the weekly al-Ahali	19/02/2007	killed by gunmen in unclear circumstances in Baghdad
Rasoul Abdul Hussein	reporter, killed together with his wife in Diwaniya	21/02/2007	http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2215/18_Iraqi_Journalists_Killed_in_2007
Youssef Sabri	Iraqi TV journalist for Biladi TV, a privately-owned station affiliated with al-Dawa	14/03/2007	was among the 22 killed from a car bombing at a Baghdad checkpoint in the al Dawra district in the south of Baghdad. He was reportedly at the checkpoint to film Shia pilgrims leaving the capital for the holy city of Karbala.
Hussein al Jaburi	editor of the daily al-Safir	16/03/2007	He died from his injuries in a hospital in Amman, Jordan on 16 March where he was taken for treatment after being ambushed outside his Baghdad home on 11 February.
Hamid al-Duleimi	producer on the TV channel al-Nahrain	19/03/2007	His body was found dead in the Baghdad morgue. He had been abducted two days previously as he left the channel’s studios.
Hamid Mohammed Salih	program director for the Dijlah radio station, is assassinated in the Jami'a district	19/03/2007	http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2215/18_Iraqi_Journalists_Killed_in_2007
Mohammed Jassim Yousif	reporter for the Iraqi Media Network, assassinated west of Baghdad	31/03/2007	http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2215/18_Iraqi_Journalists_Killed_in_2007
Khamel Mohsin	well-known to Iraqis as a TV and radio presenter during the Saddam Hussein era.	3/04/2007	kidnapped by gunmen as she left her office in the university district on 3 April. Her body was found the next day. She had worked for Radio Sawa since Saddam’s removal.
Husain Nizaer	journalist trainee - Baghdad TV	5/04/2007	killed and at least 12 people were wounded in an attack on the satellite TV station yesterday in which a truck laden with explosives was driven at the building and then gunmen opened fire.
Iman Yussef Abdallah	radio mouthpiece of the Mosul workers' union	12/04/2007	Gunmen shot dead Iman Yussef Abdallah and her husband in an eastern area of the city, the Iraqi Association for the Defence of Journalists' Rights said. Their bodies were later set alight in their vehicle,
Unknown	Staff employee of Radio Dijla	3/05/2007	gunmen attacked staff at the independent radio station in a predominantly Sunni area of Baghdad, killing two and wounding five, and then bombed the building and knocked the station off the air
Aqeel Abdul-Qader	writer working for al-Raad.	9/05/2007	A police source told Reuters that the men were targeted because of their work, and that they were actually dragged from the car first and tortured before being shot.
Nibras Razzaq	Driver	9/05/2007	The killed journalists were Raad Mutashar, chairman of Kirkuk writers' union and owner of al-Raad media institution, which publishes a number of papers, and Imad Abdul-Razzaq al-Obeidi and Aqeel Abdul-Qader, both writers working for al-Raad.
Aidan Abdullah al-Jamiji	in charge of Kirkuk television's Turkoman language section	26/05/2007	the body of Aidan Abdullah al-Jamiji, who was in charge of Kirkuk television's Turkoman language section and was a well-known local musician, was found on 26 May in the boot of his car. The car had been torched and dumped near a cemetery in the northern c
Mohammed Hilal Karji	Journalist for Baghdad TV	7/06/2007	kidnapped June 7 outside his home while on his way to work in the Yousifiyah region south of Baghdad, and his bullet-ridden body was found in a morgue the following day, an official at the station said.
Unknown	correspondent for the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram	19/06/2007	At least 78 people were killed and 224 wounded, including a correspondent for the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram, in a car bomb explosion targeting the Shi’ite Khillani mosque in a crowded area of central Baghdad on Tuesday afternoon
Zeena Shakir Mahmoud	former radio broadcaster, was writing about women's affairs for the Al-Haqiqa newspaper	24/06/2007	Zeena Shakir Mahmoud was shot to death on her way home from work in Mosul. Although she worked for a Kurdish paper, she was a Sunni Arab.
Rahim Al-Maliki	Reporter Al-Iraqiya and poet	25/06/2007	http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=22723
Sarmad Hamdi al-Hassani	Journalist for Baghdad TV	27/06/2007	Hassani, 43, was seized from his home in Baghdad's Jamia neighborhood on June 27, his body found the next day, the official said.
Hamed Abd Farhan	veteran journalist who had worked for the Iraqi News Agency for over 30 years, as well as several local newspapers and magazines	27/06/2007	Gunmen assassinated an Iraqi journalist near his house in the Turath disrict of southern Baghdad, a source from the Iraqi Journalists Union said. Most recently he worked in the media bureau of the Baghdad Municipality.
Louaï Souleimane	Reporter Nineveh	28/06/2007	http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=22809
Ali Watan	Journalist for Samawa local TV	7/07/2007	killed in the clashes that erupted between security forces and fighters of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi army in the southern Iraqi city of Samawa during the last two days
Unknown	translator for Reuters	14/07/2007	Gunmen shot dead an Iraqi who worked as a translator for Reuters in Baghdad this week.Family members said they did not want to reveal the name of their son.
Adnan Al-Safi	correspondent for the Al-Anwar satellite channel	25/07/2007	shot by a sniper’s bullet in the Utaifiya district of Baghdad
Abdul Khaliq al-Habir al-Anbaki	caricaturist in al-Mutamar newspaper	26/07/2007	killed along with his 11-member-family in the car bombing attack that took place on Thursday in Karrada, central Baghdad
Anwar Abbas Lafta	CBS translator	26/08/2007	killed by gunmen who stole him from his home. His body was found in the morgue last night
Amir al Rashidi	cameraman who works for Al-Iraqiya	3/09/2007	Unidentified gunmen killed Amir al Rashidi, a cameraman who works for Al-Iraqiya, in the centre of Mosul on Monday night
Muhannad Ghanim Al Ubeidi	Journalist Radio Dar al-Salam Mosul	20/09/2007	Unidentified gunmen have killed Muhannad Ghanim Ahmed, who worked for the privately owned Radio Dar al-Salam, in the eastern Al-Muharibeen district of the city.
Jawad al-Daami	Iraqi television presenter working with the private Al-Baghdadiyah channel	23/09/2007	He was ambushed in the western Baghdad neighbourhood of Al-Qadisiyah as he was driving through the area on Sunday. Gunmen opened fire on his car and Daami was killed instantly.

Killed Media Professionals of Iraqi Nationality
	Journalist, reporter		175
	Cameraman		26
	Photographer		6
	Administrative (incl. staff employees, directors, producers)		38
	Translator		12
	Driver		16
	Security guard		12
	Technician (incl. soundmen)		13	Killed Media Professionals of Iraqi Nationality				298

	Non-Iraqi Media Professionals, killed in Iraq,		24	Media Professionals of non-Iraqi Nationality who died in Iraq of non violent causes				6

	Total Media professionals killed in the Iraq war:		322
						MALE	298
	Total Media professionals who died in the Iraq war:		328			FEMALE	30
	Iraq war deadliest conflict in history for media professionals.
	Year	Iraqi media workers killed			Non Iraqi	Total
	2003	6			20	26
	2004	51			6	57
	2005	56			1	57
	2006	88			2	90
	2007	80			1	81
	2008	17			0	17
	Total:	298			30	328
List updated:		28/10/2008 16:21

Journalist, reporter