Maguindanao massacre tops int'l list of unsolved media killings

The massacre of 57 people, including 32 media practitioners, in Maguindanao province last November 23 has topped an international group’s list of 10 murder cases involving journalists that should be solved at the soonest possible time. New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) drew the list on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, where it challenged the governments concerned to take proper action. “CPJ is challenging authorities to solve these 10 crimes and send a message that they are committed to reversing the grave problem of impunity in journalist murders," it said in its Web site. In the Philippines, journalists held President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo responsible for the death of their colleagues, even calling her the “true enemy of press freedom." In a statement, Nestor Burgos, national chairman of National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), said 100 journalists had been murdered since President Arroyo rose to power in 2001 through a people’s uprising. “[This was] capped by the unprecedented slaughter of 32 journalists and media staff last November 23, the worst single attack on journalists ever. If anyone should bear responsibility for this outrage, aside from the accused members and armed retainers of a clan that counts among Arroyo’s staunchest allies, it is Arroyo herself," he said. Blamed for the massacre were members of the Ampatuan family, a powerful political clan that was once allied with President Arroyo. Most dangerous place Burgos said President Arroyo’s sins of omission and commission over the past nine years made the Philippines the most dangerous place for media workers in the world. He said President Arroyo “nurtured" warlords by allowing them to build up massive arsenals and armies and wealth in their invariably poverty- and war-ridden territories, in exchange for ensuring the survival of her administration. “If we are to go by the conviction record of those responsible for the murder of our colleagues – six gunmen, and no masterminds – it would not need genius to conclude that many of those who ordered these killings count among her warlord allies," Burgos said. The NUJP called on the presidential aspirants to ensure that justice would be served to the victims, not only for the Maguindanao massacre, but for all the media murders in the past. Culture of impunity CPJ said its research shows that each of the 10 cases in its list can be solved since specific suspects have been identified, while evidence in others points clearly to potential culprits. “Solving these cases would start to change the culture of impunity around the world, a condition that produces widespread self-censorship and stifles the global dialogue," said CPJ executive director Joel Simon. In a separate statement, Southeast Asian Press Alliance said the murder of journalists is only one form of violence against the free press. It noted that journalists and media workers suffer physical threats, social ostracism, imprisonment, detention, and legal harassment. “Indeed, not only journalists and writers, but even their defenders—lawyers and human rights advocates—are being arrested and harassed, from Vietnam, Burma, and Cambodia to Singapore and the Philippines," the group said. It added that a general lack of media literacy throughout Southeast Asia has also made journalists vulnerable to public misunderstanding, making them targets of mob anger as well as the wrath of public officials and politicians. —KBK, GMANews.TV