Fifty-Three Journalists Killed in 2000: WAN

Paris, 23 January 2001

Fifty-Three Journalists Killed in 2000: WAN

A total of 53 journalists and other media workers were killed world-wide in 2000, with Colombia and Russia remaining the most dangerous countries in which to practice journalism, the World Association of Newspapers said Tuesday.

Ten journalists were slain in Colombia and six were killed in Russia.

Journalists were also murdered in 25 other countries, including places where violence against the press is relatively rare -- in the United States, for example, where a crime reporter was shot to death in October, and in Spain, where a critic of Basque separatists was gunned down in May.

The 53 journalists killed in 2000 compares with 71 killed in 1999.
Twenty-eight journalists died in 1998 and 26 in 1997.

"Fewer journalists were killed in warfare in 2000 than in the previous
year," said Anne-Marie Stott, Policy Advisor for the Paris-based WAN.
"Unfortunately, far more journalists were killed in their homes and offices. This is a disturbing trend - many of them appear to be retributive attacks."

Journalists and other media workers were also killed in Bangladesh (2),
Brazil (1), Democratic Republic of Congo (1), Gambia (1), Georgia (1),
Guatemala (1), Haiti (3), India (3), Kosovo (1) Lebanon (1), Mexico (2), Mozambique (1), Pakistan (3), Peru (1), Philippines (3), Sierra Leone (3), Somalia (1), South Africa (1), Sri Lanka (1), Tajikistan (1), Ukraine (1), Uruguay (1), and Zambia (1).

Details on all the slayings (in English) can be found on the WAN web site at www.wan-press.org/pf/killed/2000.html.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 17,000 newspapers; its membership includes 66 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 93 countries, 17 news agencies and seven regional and world-wide press groups.

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