http://cpj.org/2009/02/attacks-on-the-press-in-2008-introduction.phpAttacks on the Press in 2008: Introduction
By Joel Simon
In 2008, the numbers of journalists killed and jailed both dropped for the first time since the war on terror was launched in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. This is welcome news, but it is tempered by harsh realities. The war on terror had a devastating effect on journalists, and the trends will be difficult to reverse. Over seven years, journalists were targeted for murder in record numbers, while deterioration in the international legal environment led to a surge in journalist imprisonments.
One loss was felt immediately on September 11—freelance photographer William Biggart died covering the World Trade Center attack—but it soon became clear that the dangers facing reporters would be profound and long lasting. As the United States prepared for war in Afghanistan, Bush administration officials made known that they expected the press to get behind the country’s military efforts. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told television executives on a conference call that they should not air videos from Osama bin Laden because they could contain coded messages. President George W. Bush’s spokesman, Ari Fleischer, warned that Americans “need to watch what they say, watch what they do.” The implication: It would be irresponsible for news media to engage in criticism at a time of crisis. The sentiment was eagerly embraced by autocratic regimes around the world.
Nine journalists were killed covering the 2001 Afghanistan invasion, a prelude to an even more perilous conflict in Iraq. Journalists expected a hostile reception from the Taliban, but they also found unsympathetic attitudes among U.S. and other Western military forces. U.S. forces detained journalists on several occasions, including a February 2002 episode in which U.S. soldiers detained Washington Post reporter Doug Struck at gunpoint and prevented him from investigating reports of civilian casualties. In November, the U.S. military bombed the offices of Al-Jazeera in Kabul, claiming at the time that it was “a known al-Qaeda facility.” A month later, Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Haj was detained at Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan and eventually sent to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where he was held as an enemy combatant for six years. He was never charged with a crime. snip
Over the next five years, journalists found themselves squeezed between the military and militants. In all, at least 16 journalists have been killed by U.S. forces in Iraq. Although CPJ found that none of the killings had been a deliberate attack on news media, we also concluded that none of the killings had been fully investigated—including the bombing of Al-Jazeera’s Baghdad bureau, which killed reporter Tareq Ayyoub. snip
As journalists were losing their lives in Iraq, the international legal environment for the media also deteriorated, leading to a sharp increase in the imprisonment of journalists worldwide. The number of jailed journalists rose from 81 at the end of 2000 to 118 by the end of 2001 and has remained stubbornly high since, averaging 128 per year. Not coincidentally, the United States has appeared on CPJ’s annual imprisoned list every year during this period. Dozens of journalists have been detained by the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan, at least 14 for prolonged periods without due process. No journalist held by the U.S. military was convicted of a crime.
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