JURIST - Paper Chase: IFJ condemns 'targeted assassinations' of journalists

[JURIST] The number of targeted assassinations [EJIL paper, PDF] of journalists is on the rise, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) [advocacy website] said Monday in its annual report, Targeting and Tragedy: Journalists and Media Staff Killed in 2005 [PDF text, Part II, Part III]. The IFJ reports that 89 of the record 150 media staff who died last year during the course of their work were victims of targeted killings, including 35 in Iraq, 10 in the Philippines, and 12 in Latin America and Haiti. In the report, the IFJ decried a "culture of neglect and indifference" [press release] that it says surrounds the deaths, criticizing law enforcement officials for conducting few serious investigations into the epidemic of violence against the media and calling on the United Nations to take action. At least 61 deaths were caused by accidents rather than deliberate killings, including 48 resulting from the December 6 crash of a military aircraft in Tehran. Reuters has more.

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