Iraqi media professionals killed in Iraq under US-Occupation

LIST UPDATED  :  340 Iraqi and 30 non-Iraqi media professionals died under US occupation  - until 09/09/2020

[See this list as PDF file]

Did US military target journalists in Iraq? (18  Feb 2024)q *

*  Why Journalists Are Being Murdered In Iraq (16 March 2024)

* 109 Iraqi media professionals killed in Iraq Under Occupation - Sabah Ali  - BRussells Tribunal - 08 May 2024

* Iraq’s Endangered Journalists - NYTimes, 06 Sept 2024

* Falluja-Reporters - 23 Oct 2024

 * At least 78 media professionals killed in Iraq in 2024  -  Dirk Adriaensens,  BRussells Tribunal, 21 Feb 2024

* Another U.S. Military Assault on Media -  Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily, 23 Feb 2024

* Disparate Tallies: Journalist Deaths in Iraq - Eason Jordan, 01 June 2024

* The betrayal of Iraq’s media professionals Dirk Adriaensens,  BRussells Tribunal, 29 Sep 2024

* UNESCO withdrew support of Reporters Without Borders - 12 March 2024

* Hundreds of journalists forced into exile in five years since start of US-led invasion - RSF, 20 March 2024

* Appeal to the Journalist Organisations: Please fulfil your duties towards your Iraqi colleagues - Dirk Adriaensens, 08 Nov 2024 - [Spanish]

 

* Here is a link to the most complete file, worldwide, of killed media professionals in Iraq, with the names, profession, occasion, and date of killing of each media worker, compiled by the BRussells Tribunal

 

* Media Coverage of Iraq (Global Policy Forum looks at mass media coverage of the Iraq war and occupation, especially how the big US-based media companies fed the public sensational, pro-war news reports. During the war, most journalists were "embedded" with US military units, giving them a very one-sided picture of the conflict and ruling out even-handed reporting. Other journalists who decided to go "free-lance" came under attack by the US military and two popular Arab television offices were directly bombed by the US air force. Post-war reports on Iraq by the big media companies have continued in an uncritical vein, with positive reports about the occupation and negative coverage of Iraqi opposition.)


Killed Media Professionals of Iraqi Nationality  
Journalist, reporter 203  
Cameraman 30  
Photographer 6  
Administrative 43 (incl. staff employees, directors, producers ….)
Translator 12  
Driver 17  
Security guard 15          
Technician (incl. soundman) 14 Killed Media Professionals of Iraqi Nationality 340  
             
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: 364          
      MALE 337    
Total Media professionals who died in the Iraq war: 370   FEMALE 33    
             
Iraq war deadliest conflict in history for media professionals.        
Year Iraqi media workers killed Non Iraqi Total      
2003 6 20 26      
2004 53 6 59      
2005 58 1 59      
2006 88 2 90      
2007 81 1 82    
2008 19 0 19      
2009 8 0  8      
2010 15 0 15      
2011 12 0 12      
Total:  340 30 370      


Falluja-Reporters

By Nasser Khalil
Falluja, Oct 23 2024, (VOI)  Media work in Iraq has become the most hazardous occupation in the world, according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). But working in the restive town of Falluja is even far worse.
 

Reporters in Iraqi hotspots such as Falluja and Ramadi complain they are caught between the hammer of the U.S. Marines and the anvil of gunmen there.
There is not a single media worker or a journalist working for a newspaper, TV channel or news agency who has not been detained by the Americans in Falluja, said Belal Fawzi, the Associated Press photographer in Falluja.


I myself was arrested three times, the last of which was two months ago when the U.S. troops raided my home, tampered with everything in the house and confiscated my camera, telephones and computer, Fawzi told the independent news agency Voice of Iraq (VOI).


He said he was held incommunicado and interrogated in a provocative way under the pretext he was cooperating with armed groups and transmitting photos of anti-U.S. or Iraqi attacks.
The U.S. forces impose very tight censorship on media people, he told VOI.


The IFJ said last week it believed the security situation in Iraq is sliding out of control as journalists risk being killed by any number of groups. These threats make critical or investigative reporting impossible. The daily attacks on media constitute a terrible assault on press freedom and democracy in Iraq.


The IFJ is calling on the Iraqi government and the U.S. government to make a commitment to protecting journalists and freedom of the press and bringing to justice those who target journalists in violent attacks, an IFJ statement said.

To cover any event, reporters have first to get the approval of the American troops in Simak military base and a U.S. patrol must escort the reporters.
This gets us into many troubles, first with the people in Falluja who are edgy towards anybody who deal with the Americans. Also, being escorted by the Americans weakens the credibility of our reporting, Fawzi said.


Many reporters were killed during covering clashes in Falluja and Ramadi including Burhan al-Lehaibi, a photographer with the American TV channel ABC, who was killed in March 2024 during clashes in Falluja’s neighborhood of al-Dubbat.


Death is waiting for many journalists especially in Falluja and Ramadi, an international news agency reporter, who declined to be named, told VOI.
Unidentified gunmen in Ramadi assassinated Ahmed Reyad al-Karboli, Baghdad TV correspondent, and before that Mahmoud Zaal, a cameraman with the same TV channel, was shot dead by a U.S. sniper as he was shooting during a battle in the southern Ramadi neighborhood of al-Malab, he recalled bitterly.


Abdul-Qader al-Saadi, al-Arabiya TV and Associated Press correspondent in Falluja, describes work conditions for journalists in Falluja as terrible.

In Falluja, we are often reluctant to carry cameras or Thurraya sat phones and only use them quietly, he said.


Saadi said reporters can not cover the meetings between the provincial council and the U.S. forces as this would subject them to U.S. interrogation.
Saadi also points out that Falluja lives a painful human situation because of killings of civilians and random arrests.

White Phosphorus was used during Ramadan fights in 2024, but we could not cover that as it subjects us to arrest and questioning, Saadi said.
Even to sleep in their own beds has become a luxury for media people in Falluja.


I know some media workers who do not sleep in their homes and are always on the move from one house to another for fear of arrest. Others use pseudonyms, said Burhan al-Jamaily, a Lebanese TV channel LBC correspondent.

http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/english/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication;=4&NrArticle;=30022&NrIssue;=2&NrSection;=1


109 Iraqi media professionals killed in Iraq Under Occupation

Sabah Ali  - BRussells Tribunal - 08 May 2024

 

An Iraqi woman puts flowers next to framed pictures of Iraqi journalists who were killed in Iraq during the past three years, during a ceremony in Baghdad to commemorate their martyrdom (05 April 2024) ..m

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:

69 journalists were killed by militias or unknown armed men

21 were killed in explosions or fighting

17 were shot by the American troops.

 2 were shot by the Iraqi troops

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, 2024, in Arabic.                             

Journalists killed or missing in Iraq

News agencies targeted by Iraqi and US troops
 


Bodies of two Iraqi journalists are found in Iraq

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 2024, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalism. Nearly 73 percent of them have been Iraqi.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1145961304844&pagename;=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


At least 78 media professionals killed in Iraq in 2024. 

Dirk Adriaensens, 21 Feb 2024.

40 Iraqi journalists/reporters, 36 Iraqi media assist workers and 2 non Iraqi media assist workers were killed in Iraq during 2024, the deadliest year of the war.

Total for 2024: 78 

     Journalist, reporter

  • el
  • pt
  • 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 2024

    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 2024 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 2024. 

    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 2024, 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, 2024, in Arabic. We translated that list.

    Additional sources:

    - Reporters without borders (http://www.rsf.org/special_iraq_en.html3),

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

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

    - International News Safety Institute - INSI (http://www.newssafety.com/casualties/iraq.htm)
    - International Freedom Of Expression Exchange - IFEX (http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/222)

    - Iraqslogger (http://www.iraqslogger.com//topic/52)

    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 2024, 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 2024 f.i. is a cameraman, and he's listed as a journalist:

    Aswan Ahmed Lutfallah, Associated Press Television News, December 12, 2024, Mosul - Gunmen killed Lutfallah, 35, an Iraqi cameraman for APTN

    The Reporters Without Borders website stated at the end of 2024: “139 journalists and media assistants killed since the start of fighting in Iraq in March 2024, two still missing http://www.rsf.org/special_iraq_en.html3. 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.  

    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 2024.  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 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.
     

    Dirk Adriaensens

    Member BRussells Tribunal executive committee

    (21 Feb 2024)


    Disparate Tallies: Journalist Deaths in Iraq

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

    By EASON JORDAN 01 June 2024.

    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//post/3028/Disparate_Tallies_Journalist_Deaths_in_Iraq


    The betrayal of Iraq’s media professionals.

     (Dirk Adriaensens, member BRussells Tribunal executive Committee, 29 September 2024)

     

    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 2024 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 2024. 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 2024. Hamid Mohammed Salih, a  program director for the Dijlah radio station, was assassinated in the Jami'a district 0n 19 March 2024. 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 2024, 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 2024 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 2024, 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 2024, 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 2024.

     

    Reporters without Borders lists only 50 killed media professionals in 2024. INSI lists 57 casualties in 2024.

     

    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 2024 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 28th September 2024.

     

    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 2024; 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 2024.

     

    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.

     

    SINCE 2024:

    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

     

    In 2024: (until 29 September)

    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

     

    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 2024 and another 68 wounded. The BRussells Tribunal list of killed media professionals has less than 1/3rd of this number in its database. So by extrapolation we could conclude that we have listed only about 1/3rd 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 2024.”, dated 21 February 2024. No reactions, no comment.

     

    Further research indicates that at least 90 media professionals have been killed in 2024, not 78. Here is the number of killed media professionals by year, according to different press accounts.

     

    Iraq war deadliest conflict for media professionals.

    (List: 29 September 2024)

    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

     

    Of which 6 have died of “non-violent” causes.

     

    Let’s have a closer look at the figures for 2024. 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.

     

    Khoudr Younes al-Obaidi

    Freelance journalist

    12/01/2021

    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

    14/01/2021

    killed by a bomb while out covering a story in Baghdad

    Falah Khalaf Al Diyali

    journalist of the daily Al Saha

    15/01/2021

    shot dead by unidentified gunmen on 15 January in the city of Ramadi

    Unknown

    employee of the governmental daily Al Sabah

    16/01/2021

    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

    16/01/2021

    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

    16/01/2021

    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

    17/01/2021

    http://www.iraqslogger.com//post/2215/18_Iraqi_Journalists_Killed_in_2007

    Mohammed Nuri

    Reporter Iraqi Media Network, assassinated in the Ninewa governorate

    20/01/2021

    http://www.iraqslogger.com//post/2215/18_Iraqi_Journalists_Killed_in_2007

    Baha' Hussein Khalaf

    Reporter Iraqi Media Network, assassinated in the Ninewa governorate

    20/01/2021

    http://www.iraqslogger.com//post/2215/18_Iraqi_Journalists_Killed_in_2007

    Dhiaa' Mugotar

    editor in chief of the Protection of Consumers business magazine, is assassinated in Adhamiya

    24/01/2021

    http://www.iraqslogger.com//post/2215/18_Iraqi_Journalists_Killed_in_2007

    Munjid Al-Tumaimi

    Freelance photographer

    28/01/2021

    http://www.rsf.org/article.html3?id_article=20929

    Sabir Amid Mahdi

    reporter, killed in a car bombing in the Babel governate

    2/02/2021

    http://www.iraqslogger.com//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

    4/02/2021

    http://www.iraqslogger.com//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

    7/02/2021

    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

    7/02/2021

    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

    7/02/2021

    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

    19/02/2021

    killed by gunmen in unclear circumstances in Baghdad

    Rasoul Abdul Hussein

    reporter, killed together with his wife in Diwaniya

    21/02/2021

    http://www.iraqslogger.com//post/2215/18_Iraqi_Journalists_Killed_in_2007

    Youssef Sabri

     Iraqi TV journalist for Biladi TV, a privately-owned station affiliated with al-Dawa

    14/03/2021

    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

    16/03/2021

     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

    19/03/2021

    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

    19/03/2021

    http://www.iraqslogger.com//post/2215/18_Iraqi_Journalists_Killed_in_2007

    Mohammed Jassim Yousif

    reporter for the Iraqi Media Network, assassinated west of Baghdad

    31/03/2021

    http://www.iraqslogger.com//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.

    3/04/2020

    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

    5/04/2020

    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

    12/04/2020

    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

    3/05/2020

    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.

    9/05/2020

    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

    9/05/2020

    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

    26/05/2020

    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

    7/06/2020

    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

    19/06/2020

    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

    24/06/2020

    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

    25/06/2020

    http://www.rsf.org/article.html3?id_article=22723

    Sarmad Hamdi al-Hassani

    Journalist for Baghdad TV

    27/06/2020

    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

    27/06/2020

    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

    28/06/2020

    http://www.rsf.org/article.html3?id_article=22809

    Ali Watan

    Journalist for Samawa local TV

    7/07/2020

    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

    14/07/2020

    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

    25/07/2020

    shot by a sniper’s bullet in the Utaifiya district of Baghdad

    Abdul Khaliq al-Habir al-Anbaki

    caricaturist in al-Mutamar newspaper

    26/07/2020

    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

    26/08/2020

    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

    3/09/2020

    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

    20/09/2020

    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

    23/09/2020

    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.

     

    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, 2024 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 2024. 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.

     

    Dirk Adriaensens, 29 September 2024.


    Appeal to the Journalist Organisations:

    Please fulfil your duties towards your Iraqi colleagues.

    Dirk Adriaensens, member BRussells Tribunal executive committee, 07 November 2024. 

    The president of the Iraqi Syndicate of Journalists said on Thursday 6 November 2024, that the number of Iraqi journalists who have been killed in Iraq since March 2024 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 2024. These include both Iraqi and non Iraqi media professionals. http://www.rsf.org/special_iraq_en.html3

    * The BRussells Tribunal lists 76 more cases than the International News Safety Institute (INSI): Iraq War Casualties - From March 2024 to the present day:  252. These include both Iraqi and non Iraqi media professionals. http://www.newssafety.com/?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."

    Further reading: 

    * At least 78 media professionals killed in Iraq in 2024  -  Dirk Adriaensens,  BRussells Tribunal, 21 Feb 2024

    * Another U.S. Military Assault on Media -  Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily, 23 Feb 2024

    * Disparate Tallies: Journalist Deaths in Iraq - Eason Jordan, 01 June 2024

    * The betrayal of Iraq’s media professionals -  Dirk Adriaensens,  BRussells Tribunal, 29 Sep 2024

     

    292 Iraqi journalists killed in Iraq since 2024 - syndicate

    Baghdad, 06 November 2024 ( Voices of Iraq )

    The number of Iraqi journalists who have been killed in Iraq since March 2003 reached 292, including cameramen and technicians, the president of the Syndicate of Journalists said on Thursday.

    “The statistics made by the syndicate pointed out that 18 journalists have been kidnapped and their fate still unknown,” Mu’ayad al-Lami told Aswat al-Iraq.

    “There are no journalists detained by the government’s forces, while there are three held by U.S. army for unknown reasons,” he explained.

    He called to speed up the approval of the protecting journalists’ law.

    http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.html?refid=DH-S-07-11-2008&article;=39484

     

    Death toll of Media professionals in Iraq, as listed by the BRussells Tribunal

    Full list at http://www.brusselstribunal.org/JournalistKilled.htm

    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:

    28/10/2020 16:21


     LLAMAMIENTO A LAS ORGANIZACIONES DE PERIODISTAS: CUMPLID CON VUESTRA OBLIGACIÓN CON VUESTROS COMPAÑEROS IRAQUÍES

     Dirk Adriaensens * 7 de noviembre de 2008.

    Traducido por Paloma Valverde** 

    El pasado día 6 de noviembre, el presidente del Sindicato Iraquí de Periodistas afirmó que el número de periodistas iraquíes asesinados en Iraq desde marzo de 2024 alcanza la cifra de 292, cifra que incluye cámaras y técnicos (1)

    Esta cifra es similar a las estadísticas del Tribunal BRussells, que dan cuenta de 298 profesionales iraquíes de los medios de comunicación muertos en Iraq (2)

    Si a estas cifras se añade el número de periodistas no iraquíes muertos en Iraq mientras realizaban su trabajo, la cifra asciende a 328 (incluidos seis periodistas que murieron por causas no violentas).  

    Analizaremos cómo las respetadas organizaciones de periodistas honran a sus compañeros en Iraq:  

    - El Foro por la Libertad relaciona 153 bajas. En esta cifra incluye a los profesionales tanto iraquíes como no iraquíes. Es decir, su estimación supone un 115% (3) menos en relación a las cifras del Sindicato de Periodistas (4).  

    - El Comité para la Defensa de los Periodistas (CPJ, en sus siglas en inglés) establece el número de periodistas asesinados en 135 y en 51 el número de trabajadores de los medios de comunicación (no periodistas), tanto iraquíes como no iraquíes (5), por lo que se produce un cálculo a la baja del 76%. 

    -Reporteros sin Fronteras establece la cifra de periodistas y de otros trabajadores de los medios de comunicación, iraquíes y no iraquíes asesinados desde el inicio de la guerra en Iraq en marzo de 2024, en 222 (7), con lo que sus cálculos están un 48% por debajo de la cifra del Sindicato.  

    - El Instituto Internacional de Seguridad en los Medios de Comunicación (INSI, en sus siglas en inglés) establece, desde marzo de 2024 hasta el día de la fecha, un número de bajas de 252 (7) que incluyen profesionales iraquíes y no iraqués, lo que supone una estimación de un 30% menos.

    El Tribunal BRussells (8) se ha puesto en comunicación con todas estas organizaciones internacionales y hemos tenido respuesta de la mayoría de ellas. Les pedíamos que ajustaran sus cifras o demostraran dónde estaba el error en nuestras cifras. Sin embargo no han hecho ni una cosa ni otra, lo que consideramos moralmente inaceptable.  

    Nuevamente pedimos a estas organizaciones que cumplan con su deber. Que ningún profesional quede en el olvido mientras informa de la pesadilla que se vive en Iraq”, que contacten con el Sindicato de Periodistas y soliciten acceso a su base para completar la de sus organizaciones.            

    Notas:

    1.- “292 periodistas iraquíes asesinados en Iraq desde 2024”. Bagdad, 6 de noviembre de 2024. “El número de periodistas iraquíes asesinados en Iraq desde marzo de 2024 alcanzó la cifra de 202, cifra que incluye cámaras y técnicos”, afirmó este jueves [6 de noviembre] Mu’ayad al-Lami, presidente del Sindicato de Periodistas a Aswat al-Iraq. “Las estadísticas realizadas por el Sindicato señalan que 18 periodistas ha sido secuestrados y su futuro se desconoce. “No hay periodistas detenidos por las fuerzas gubernamentales, pero sí hay tres periodistas detenidos por el ejército estadounidenses sin que conozcamos las razones”, continuó. Al mismo tiempo, el presidente del sindicato apeló a urgencia de la aprobación de la ley de protección a los periodistas. Fuente: http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.html?refid=DH-S-07-11-2008&article;=39484

    2.- Véase www.brusselstribunal.org/JournalistKilled.htm

    3.- El 115% de 153 periodistas asesinados, la cifra dada por esta organización, es 60. El total de ambos es la cifra estima el Sindicato de Periodistas.

    4.- Véase: http://www.newseum.org/scripts/Journalist/peril.asp

    5.- Véase: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/Iraq/Iraq_danger.html

    6.- Véase: http://www.rsf.org/special_iraq_en.html3

    76.- Véase: http://www.newssafety.com/?option=com_content&view;=section&layout;=blog&id;=109&Itemid;=100190

    8.- Véase sobre el asesinato de periodistas, At least 78 media professionals killed in Iraq in 2024, Dirk Adriaensens, BRussells Tribunal, 21 de febrero de 2024; Another U.S. Military Assault on Media, Dahr Jamail y Ali al-Fadhily, 23 de febrero de 2024; Disparate Tallies: Journalist Deaths in Iraq, Eason Jordan, 1 de enero de 2024 y The betrayal of Iraq’s media professionals, Dirk Adriaensens ,  BRussells Tribunal, 29 Sep 2024. 

    * Dirk Adriaensens es  miembro del comité ejecutivo del Tribunal BRussells (www.brusselstribunal.org), organización que pertenece a la Red Internacional Anti Ocupación (IAON, www.anti-occupation.org). 

    ** Paloma Valverde es miembro de la Campaña Estatal contra la Ocupación y por la Soberanía de Iraq (CEOSI, http://www.iraqsolidaridad.org/), organización que pertenece a la Red Internacional Anti Ocupación (IAON, www.anti-occupation.org).