Nahar Ali

CPJ’s 2011 Impunity Index spotlights countries
where journalists are slain and killers go free

December 15, 2006

Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed
President, People's Republic of Bangladesh
Chief Advisor to the Government of Bangladesh
Bangabhaban, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Via facsimile: 88-2-9566242

Your Excellency:

The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about threats and attacks against journalists in the run-up to general elections scheduled for January 23, 2007. We urge you to do everything in your power as leader of the interim government to ensure that assaults on the press are adequately investigated and punished, and that journalists are free to report on the election campaign without fear of retribution.

The Five Most Murderous Countries for Journalists

New York, June 28, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns yesterday's murder of Humayun Kabir, editor of the Bangla-language daily Janmabhumi, who was killed in a bomb attack in the southwestern city of Khulna.

At around 12 p.m., an unidentified assailant threw two bombs at Kabir outside his home while he was exiting his car with his family, according to local news reports. Witnesses told the English-language Daily Star that the assailant, posing as a peanut seller, approached Kabir and tossed at least two homemade bombs at him, fatally injuring him in the abdomen and the legs. Kabir was taken to Khulna Medical College Hospital and died soon after. Kabir's son Asif also suffered minor injuries on his legs and was treated at a local clinic.

New York, January 15, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the brutal murder of Manik Saha, a veteran journalist and press freedom activist, who was targeted and killed today in a bomb attack in the southwestern city of Khulna.

Saha, a correspondent with the daily New Age and a contributor to the BBC’s Bengali-language service, was on his way home from the Khulna Press Club by rickshaw when unidentified assailants stopped his vehicle and threw a bomb at Saha’s head, according to local journalists. The bomb detonated, and decapitated Saha, killing him instantly, according to The Associated Press. The assailants fled the scene.

July 12, 2002

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Her Excellency Khaleda Zia
Prime Minister, People's Republic of Bangladesh
Office of the Prime Minister
Dhaka, Bangladesh

Via facsimile: 011-88-02-811-3244

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Your Excellency:

In 2001, the anti-corruption watchdog group Transparency International ranked Bangladesh the most corrupt country in the world. The almost complete collapse of law and order in the country was seen as one of the prime reasons behind the fall from power of the Awami League.

The year began with a brutal attack on a young reporter that shocked a press corps already hardened by death threats, harassment, and assaults. On January 25, the private army of a local politician in the southeastern Feni District, Joynal Hazari, beat Tipu Sultan, a correspondent for the United News of Bangladesh, with iron rods and wooden bats, crushing the bones in his hands, arms, and legs so that he would never be able to work as a reporter again. The reporter was attacked for his writing on Hazari's abuse of power.

New York, January 3, 2002--A total of 37 journalists were killed worldwide as a direct result of their work in 2001, a sharp increase from 2000 when 24 were killed, according to CPJ research. At least 25 were murdered, almost all with impunity.

The dramatic rise is mainly due to the war in Afghanistan, where eight journalists were killed in the line of duty covering the US-led military campaign and a ninth journalist died of wounds sustained there two years ago. This was the highest death toll recorded for a single country since 1999, when 10 journalists were killed in Sierra Leone.

Nueva York, 3 de enero de 2002 -- Un total de 37 periodistas fueron asesinados en todo el mundo como resultado directo de su labor en el 2001, un brusco incremento en relación con el año 2000, cuando 24 fueron asesinados, según las investigaciones del Comité para la Protección de los Periodistas (CPJ, por sus siglas en inglés). Por lo menos 25 de ellos fueron asesinados, casi todos con impunidad.

El dramático aumento se debe principalmente a la guerra en Afganistán, donde ocho periodistas murieron cumpliendo su deber al cubrir la campaña militar encabezada por los Estados Unidos, y un noveno periodista murió de heridas que recibió en ese país hace dos años. Este es el mayor saldo de víctimas que se haya registrado en un solo país desde 1999, cuando 10 periodistas fueron asesinados en Sierra Leona.

April 24, 2001

Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina
Prime Minister, People's Republic of Bangladesh
Office of the Prime Minister
Dhaka, Bangladesh

VIA FAX: 011-88-02-811-3244

Your Excellency:

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is greatly alarmed by the frequency and severity of violent attacks against journalists in Bangladesh, and urges your government to take immediate action to ensure that these crimes are prosecuted vigorously.