London - The worldwide death toll of journalists has soared. Seventeen news media staff have died violently in April -- one every 36 hours, the International News Safety Institute (INSI) reported.
It was the bloodiest April in the past five years and the worst month in a year that has already seen 42 deaths in 22 countries, compared with 37 in the first four months of last year. And 2009 was one of the worst years on record with 133 deaths, INSI said.
At least 27 deaths were confirmed as being connected with the victims' work as journalists. Fifteen more fatalities appeared to be work-related but the link was unconfirmed. All but a handful of the victims were murdered.
"As World Press Freedom Day approaches (on May 3), this is a stark reminder of the
terrible price we pay for our news around the globe," said INSI Director Rodney Pinder.
INSI backed a call for one minute's silence in newsrooms around the world to honour more than 1,500 journalists and other news media who have died covering the news over the past 14 years. UNESCO has urged the gesture of respect to take place this and every year on World Press Freedom Day, to denounce the murder of journalists and demand an end to impunity for their killers.
INSI said it and and other journalist support groups have found than in more than eight out of 10 cases of journalist murder no one is brought to justice. In some countries the prosecution rate is virtually zero.
"The shocking death toll in April brings this issue into even sharper focus," Pinder said. "Each and every case demonstrates a crying need for action both in the countries concerned and on the world stage. Freedom shrieks whenever a journalist is killed for doing their job."
The toll in April included:
* Patient Chibeya, a Congolese journalist shot dead in front of his home by men in military fatigues.
* Radio presenter Luis Antonio Chevez Hernandez and journalist Georgino Orellana, gunned down in Honduras. Seven journalists have been slain in Honduras this year.
* Edwin Segues, a radio reporter shot in the Philippines - the second reporter murdered there since January.
* Latvian publisher Grigorijs Nemcovs, victim of an apparent contract killing
* Malik Arif and Azmatr Ali Bangash, killed by a suicide bomber as they reported on a refugee camp in Pakistan
* Nathan Dabat and Sunday Bwade, stabbed by rioters as they covered unrest in Nigeria
* Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto, shot in the chest during a clash between troops and demonstrators in Thailand
* Metin Alatas, a journalist working for a Kurdish-language newspaper in Turkey, found hanged in a tree
* Enrique Villacana Palomares, a kidnapped Mexican columnist, found with his throat cut
* Colombia: Mauricio Moreno Medina, a community radio journalist, stabbed to death and Arsenio Zambvrano Ocampo, found in his home, gagged and bound and stabbed 10 times
Most killings this year have taken place in Honduras. Mexico, with six dead, Pakistan with four, and Colombia and Nigeria with three each are the next most murderous nations.
Other countries in INSI's casualty listings are Nepal and Venezuela with two each and, with one each, Cyprus, Russia, Ecuador, Turkey, Afghanistan, Angola, Yemen, India, Congo, South Africa, Philippines, Latvia, Cameroon, Iraq and Thailand.
"INSI calls on all of the States concerned -- and especially Honduras, Mexico, Pakistan, Colombia and Nigeria -- to conduct full inquiries into these deaths and bring the perpetrators to justice," Pinder said.
"We also urge all UN member states, in the spirit of UNESCO's call for a minute's silence, to join in a global effort staunch the bloodshed and end impunity for the killers of journalists."
Full details of all of the deadly incidents are available on the INSI website.
Any queries on this news release should be addressed to Rodney Pinder,
email rodney.pinder@newssafety.org or mob. +44 7734 709267