This post is a summary of two reports published at http://cpj.org/ The first with the title "CPJ`s 2012 impunity index spotlight countries where journalists are slain and killers go free." in April,17 2012. The other with the title, "CPJ risk list: where press freedom suffered." And written by Karen Phillips.
Deadly, unpunished violence against the press rose sharply in Pakistan and Mexico. The Committee to Protect Journalists ( CPJ ) has found in its newly updated impunity index. The global index, which calculates unsolved journalists murders as a percentage of each country`s population has shown. "Impunity is the oxygen for attacks against the press and the engine of those who seek to silence the media," said Javier Garza, deputy editor of an Mexican daily.
The release of CPJ`s index follows two significant developments that take the fight against impunity. In March, the Mexican senate aproved a constitutional amendment that will federalize anti-press crimes. But the same month, UNESCO`s 28th biennial session failed to endorse a plan to strengthen international efforts to fight impunity after the proposal drew objections from Pakistan, India and Brazil, that have high rates of deadly, anti-press violence. The U.N. plan would strengthen the office of the special rapporteur for free expression and assist member states in developing laws to prosecute the killers of journalists. Several countries` ratings remained largely static, underscoring how entrenched the culture of impunity can be. The death toll grew in the end of 2011. Brazil has seen a similar pattern, recent journalist murders have kept the country on the index.
1º ) Iraq 5º ) Colombia 9º ) Russia
2º ) Somalia 6º ) Nepal 10º) Pakistan
3º ) Philippines 7º ) Afghanistan 11º) Brazil
4º ) Sri Lanka 8º ) Mexico 12º) India
The CPJ risk list identifies the 10 countries where press freedom suffered the most in 2012, they are: Syria and Somalia,which are racked by conflict, along with Iran, Vietnam and Ethiopia, nations that are ruled with an authoritarian grip. But half of the nations on the list; Brazil, Turkey, Pakistan, Russia and Ecuador; practice some form of democracy and exert significant influence on a regional stage. In determining the list, CPJ staff examined six press freedom indicators: fatalities, imprisonments, restrictive legislation, state censorship, impunity in anti-press attacks and journalists driven into exile. Countries named to the risk list are not necessarily the world`s worst places for journalists. Instead, the risk list identifies the top 10 places where CPJ documented the most significant downward trends in 2012.
Setbacks in Brazil are particularly alarming, given its status as a regional leader and home to a diverse array of news media. But a spike in journalist murders, a failure to address impunity, and a pattern of judicial censorship have put Brazil´s press freedom at risk. Judicial censorship remains a problem in Brazil, where businessmen, politicians and public officials have filed hundreds of lawsuits claiming the journalists have offended their honor or invaded their privacy. Brazil also failed to support press freedom on the global stage. In March, objections raised by Brazil and others nations nearly thwarted U.N. plan to improve journalist security and combat impunity.
