The research has also found that impunity is severe across South Asia. Six of the region’s nations – Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India – are on the 2011 index.
The good news is that Somalia is the only African representative on the list. Despite progress in 2011, Russia still remains a black spot on the map; the country is the only European state in the Index.
Impunity – indicator of press freedom
Impunity is a key indicator in assessing levels of press freedom and free expression in nations worldwide. Suspects have been publicly identified in dozens of unsolved cases examined by CPJ for this index, but authorities have been unable or unwilling to gain convictions.
The CPJ Impunity Index, first published in 2008, monitors 13 countries where journalists are murdered on a recurring basis and governments are unable or unwilling to prosecute the killers. The “leader” of the index is Iraq, but the details of the situation in Somalia and Russia also make very worrying reading.
For this latest index, CPJ examined journalist murders that occurred between January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2010, and that remain unsolved. Only the 13 nations with five or more unsolved cases are included on the index. Cases are considered unsolved when no convictions have been obtained.
Positive changes
Russia and Mexico, two of the world’s most murderous countries for the press, are heading in different directions in combating deadly anti-press violence.
The index, which calculates unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country’s population, found improvement in Russia but deadly anti-press violence continued to climb in Mexico, where authorities appear powerless in bringing killers to justice.
Among the 13 nations on the 2011 index, Russia (9. on th
e list) has made measurable progress, CPJ research shows. Senior investigative officials reopened several unsolved journalist murder cases, and, in April, prosecutors won convictions in the 2009 murder of reporter Anastasiya Baburova in Moscow.
“Convictions in Russia are a hopeful sign after years of indifference and denial. But Mexico’s situation is deeply troubling, with violence spiking as the government promises action but fails to deliver,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.
In Mexico (8. on the list), President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa’s administration has adopted some broad reforms – strengthening the office of the special prosecutor for crimes against free expression, for one – but prosecutors are still failing to win convictions in a corruption-plagued legal system.
In the Philippines (3. on the list), President Benigno Aquino has pledged to successfully prosecute those responsible for the 2009 massacre of dozens of journalists and others in Maguindanao province. But trial proceedings thus far have been marred by threats and bribes targeting witnesses.
Colombia (5. on the list) continued a years-long pattern of improvement, CPJ’s index found, while conditions in Bangladesh (11. on the list) reflected a slight upturn. But the countries at the top of the index – Iraq, Somalia, and the Philippines – showed either no improvement or even worsening records.
Iraq, with an impunity rating three times worse than that of any other nation, is ranked first for the fourth straight year. Although crossfire and other conflict-related deaths have dropped in Iraq in recent years, the targeted killings of journalists spiked in 2010.
Other findings
Brazil returns to the index after dropping off a year ago. While Brazilian authorities have had success in prosecuting journalist murders, winning several convictions in recent years, the country still sees persistent anti-press violence. The October 2010 murder of a muckraking radio reporter became the country’s fifth unsolved case in the past decade.
Local journalists are the victims in the vast majority of unsolved cases worldwide. Only about 6 percent of unsolved cases on the index involve international journalists slain while working abroad.
Prior threats against a journalist are powerful indicators of violence to come. More than 40 percent of the victims in this index had received threats prior to being killed.
In countries with weak law enforcement, political reporting is the most dangerous beat. Among the unsolved cases on this index, nearly 30 percent of victims had covered politics.
About 28 percent of victims covered armed conflict, reflecting a long-term phenomenon documented by CPJ. Even in war zones, CPJ has found, the targeted killing of journalists is common.
Somalia
With 10 unsolved murders in the last decade, Somalia has the worst rating in Africa and holds the second spot worldwide. The victims include Sheikh Nur Mohamed Abkey, who was tortured and shot multiple times in May 2010.
Al-Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for the murder of Abkey, one of the country’s most senior journalists, in reprisal for his work at state-run Radio Mogadishu.
Somalia’s impunity rating is one element in a devastated media landscape: Nearly 60 Somali journalists have fled the country in the past decade in the face of threats, CPJ research shows, and those remaining practice extreme self-censorship to survive.
Russia
No journalists were murdered in reprisal for their work in 2010, the first year since 1999 that no targeted media 
killings were reported in Russia.
At the same time, authorities won convictions in the 2009 double-murder of reporter Anastasiya Baburova and human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov (right). But those murders, committed on a downtown Moscow street by two radical nationalists, may prove much easier to close than the 16 unsolved cases over the past decade.
They include the contract killings of investigative journalists Anna Politkovskaya and Paul Klebnikov; the abduction and murder of Natalya Estemirova, who covered human rights in the volatile North Caucasus, and the mysterious poisoning of the critical newspaper editor Yuri Shchekochikhin.
About the Index
CPJ released its 2011 Impunity Index at the 17th general meeting of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange in Beirut, which brought together press freedom advocates from around the world.
CPJ’s Impunity Index is compiled as part of the organization’s Global Campaign Against Impunity.
Find more about a research, the Index and methodology here.
Related articles:
Russia: two sentenced for murder of journalist Baburova and human rights lawyer Markelov
Somaliland editor sentenced to 3 years in prison
East and Horn of Africa – the most dangerous region for journalists
Somali journalist killed in Mogadishu fighting
Somalia, the deadliest place in Africa for journalists
The freedom of press in East and Horn of Africa remains worst in the world
