Iran has worst world's record on jailing journalists: press watchdog
AFP
VIENNA - Iran became the world's biggest jailer of reporters in 2009, media watchdog IPI said in its annual report published Thursday.
The International Press Institute singled out Iran, as it prepared to mark the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution, as having "some of the world's most repressive policies towards the media."
"In 2009, Iran became the leading jailer of journalists in the world, imprisoning over 100 reporters and bloggers in the aftermath of the disputed elections," the report said.
Copies of Iranian newspapers
IPI also accused Tehran of censorship -- shutting down publications and the Internet and expelling foreign journalists -- as well as "unfair trials and torture", especially following the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last June.
A total 110 journalists were killed worldwide in 2009 because of their work, more than at any other time since 2000, the Vienna-based International Press Institute said in its World Press Freedom Review.
This figure jumped in November following a politically-motivated massacre in the southern Philippines that left over 30 journalists dead.
"For all the progress associated with the passing of a millennium milestone, when it comes to the deliberate murder of journalists because of their work we are still mired in an age of barbarity," said the report's editor Anthony Mills.
A new development in the past decade was the deliberate targeting of journalists in conflict zones, such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, he noted.
"Such a departure has changed the face of conflict reporting, leading to less coverage and therefore a worrying vacuum in the understanding of these complex events."
With 38 journalists killed in 2009, the Philippines was by far the most dangerous country for the media last year, followed by Mexico with 11 deaths and Somalia with nine.
Pakistan, Colombia, and Russia and Honduras in joint fifth place completed the top five.
Across the Middle East and North Africa, the press institute complained that "impunity for those who murder, assault, harass and intimidate journalists remained the unacceptable norm."
In a list of recommendations, the watchdog advised governments to repeal restrictive or unclear media laws, stop the harassment and unwarranted detention of journalists and bloggers and refrain from censorship.
IPI celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.
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