"The killing of journalists is clearly linked with situations of internal conflict," said Lempen in a statement.
United States journalist Roxana Saberi in Evin prison in Iran
Meanwhile, fears also grow for the safety of arrested US journalist Roxana Saberi in Iran eleven days ago. She is incarcerated in the most notorious prison of Iraq, where a female photojournalist from Canada was tortured to death in 2003.
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The current death toll of journalists this year alone included four killed in the Gaza Strip and four in Pakistan. Two deaths were reported each in Iraq, Mexico, Nepal, Russia, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Venezuela, while the other deaths occurred in Colombia, Kenya, Madagascar and Philippines.
They called upon the
UN Human Rights Council to tackle what it called "this global problem". Founded in June 2004 by a group of journalists from several countries, it is based in Geneva as an international independent nonprofit and non-governmental organization.
Convention to protect news media:
It aims at strengthening the legal protection and safety of journalists in zones of conflict and civil unrest or in dangerous missions. The PEC is in favor of a new international convention to improve the protection of media. It has the support of around 35 NGOs and journalists' associations in the world.
The Press Emblem Campaign aims at providing media with an Emblem that would be guaranteed by an International Convention ratified by as many countries as possible, so that the media like humanitarian workers would better perform their job in the field and especially in situations of armed conflict.
Its president is Hedayat Abdel Nabi
hedayat.abdelnabi@gmail.com, its secretary-general Blaise Lempen
LN@ats.ch
Killed in February 2009 were:
16 Majid el Saker (A), Bianat el Jedida, Baghdad, Iraq, Feb2 -17 Said Tahlil Ahmed (T), director HornAfrik Radio, Mogadishu, Somalia, Feb 4 - 18 Salam Al Dosaki (O), Al-Hadba, Mosul, Iraq, Feb 5 - 19 Maria Eugenia Guerrero (O/C), radio Integracion Estereo, Tulcan, Ecuador, Colombia, Feb 5 - 20 Ando Ratovonirina (A), Radio-Television Analamanga (RTA), Antananarivo, Madagascar, Feb 7 - 21 Puniyamoorthy Sathiyamoorthy (A), Eelanaatham daily, Mullaithuvu (Vanni), Sri Lanka, Feb 12 - 22 Jean Paul Ibarra Ramirez (T/C), El Correo de Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico, Feb 13 - 23 Mosa Khankhel (T), Geo TV, The News International daily, Matta town, Swat Valley, Pakistan, Feb 18 - 24 Gyanendra Raj Mishra (T), radio station, Birgunj, Nepal, Feb 20 - 25 Ernesto Rollin (T/C), radio DxSy-Am, Ozamiz City, Mindanao, Philippines, Feb 23 - 26 Luis Daniel Mendez Hernandez (T/C), radio La Poderosa-Cadena Radiorama de Tuxpan, Huyacocotla, Veracruz, Mexico, Feb 23
Killed in January 2009 were:
1 Hassan Mayow Hassan (T), Radio Shabelle, Afgoye, Somalia, Jan 1 - 2 Jacinto Lopez (O), El Impulso, Palavecino, Estado de Lara, Venezuela, Jan 1 - 3 Omar Silawi (A), TV cameraman, Beit Lahiya, Gaza, Jan 3 - 4 Muhammad Imran (A), cameraman Express TV, Dera Ismail Khan, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, Jan 4 - 5 Tahir Awan (A), freelance Apna-Aitedal, Dera Ismail Khan, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, Jan 4 - 6 Shafig Amrakhov (O), RIA 51 news agency, Murmansk, Russia, Jan 5 - 7 Basil Ibrahim Faraj (T/A), Algerian TV Network ENTV, Gaza City, Jan 6 - 8 Lasantha Wickramatunga (T), Sunday Leader, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Jan 8 - 9 Eyhab Al Wahidi (T), Palestinian Broadcast Corporation, Gaza, Jan 8 - 10 Ala Hammad Murtaja (T/A), Alwan Radio, Gaza, Jan 9 - 11 Uma Singh (T), Janakpur Today Daily, Radio Today FM, Janakpur, Nepal, Jan 11 - 12 Orel Zambrano (T/C), ABC, Radio America 890AM, Valencia, Venezuela, Jan 16 - 13 Anastasia Baburova (T/A), Novaya Gazeta, Moscow, Russia, Jan 19 - 14 Aamir Wakil (T/0), Awami Inqilab, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Jan 24 - 15 Francis Nyaruri (C), Weekly Citizen, Nyambira, Kenya, Jan 29
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Fears also grow for arrested US journalist Roxana Saberi in Iran see
