177 mass media representatives killed in 2007 - UN

Almaty. May 4. Kazakhstan Today - 177 mass media representatives were killed in 2007, the agency reports referring to UN news service.

According to the news service, on the eve of the World Press Freedom Day of the UNESCO referring to the International federation of journalists has drawn attention to the fact that in 2007 177 mass media representatives were killed. The unprecedented number of journalists has been attacked or killed in Iraq."

The committee for protection of journalists informed that only 15 % out of 500 cases of murders of journalists led to sentence pronouncement for the last 15 years, the news service informs.

According to the message, on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, the committee made the index of impunity public. This list icludes 13 countries, the authorities of which cannot or do not wish to call to account the guilty in deliberate murders of the employees of mass media. The first three included Iraq, Sierra Leon and Somalia where journalists routinely endanger their lives while covering operations. "The index of impunity included the countries where for the last 10 years at least 5 murders of journalists have not been disclosed. Russia occupies the 9th place in this list.

In UNESCO opinion, today attacks on journalists have ceased to be a rarity. Carrying out their professional duty, in particular, covering of operations, social conflicts or natural accidents, they endanger their lives, but as the news service of the United Nations informs, "the greatest alarm causes those cases when journalists become a target because of the materials published by them."

This information may not be reproduced without reference to Kazakhstan Today