Army finds no fault in Palestine Hotel shelling
New York, November 5, 2004—Nineteen months after a U.S. Army tank opened fire on a Baghdad hotel full of journalists, killing two and wounding three others, the Pentagon has released a redacted report concluding that coalition forces bore “no fault or negligence” in the shelling. In August 2003, the Pentagon had released summary findings about…
CPJ sends letter to Rumsfeld about the deaths of two journalists in Iraq
Dear Secretary Rumsfeld: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by the deaths of two journalists working for the United Arab Emirates-based news channel Al-Arabiyya in Baghdad last week. These deaths are especially troubling because they occurred just days before the military presented a detailed report on the August death of Reuters cameraman Mazen Dana that contained recommendations for creating safer conditions for journalists working in Iraq.
Attacks on the Press 2003: Iraq
The U.S.-led war in Iraq proved extremely dangerous for journalists. More than a dozen lost their lives reporting there in 2003, and many seasoned war correspondents have called the postwar environment the most risky assignment of their lives. With the demise of Saddam Hussein’s repressive regime, Iraqi media have flourished, but news organizations faced potentially…
CNN PRODUCER AND DRIVER KILLED IN AMBUSH
New York, January 27, 2003—A television producer working for the U.S. cable news network CNN and his driver were killed in an ambush today on the outskirts of Baghdad, CNN has reported. The network said that producer Duraid Isa Mohammed, who also acts as a translator, and driver Yasser Khatab died of multiple gunshot wounds…
36 JOURNALISTS KILLED FOR THEIR WORK IN 2003More than a third killed during conflict in Iraq
New York, January 2, 2004—A total of 36 journalists were killed worldwide as a direct result of their work in 2003, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). This is a sharp increase from 2002, when 19 journalists were killed. The war in Iraq was the primary reason for the increase, as 13 journalists,…
CPJ REQUESTS INFORMATION FROM U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT ABOUT JOURNALISTS KILLED IN IRAQ BY U.S. FORCES
New York, October 8, 2003—Exactly six months after the U.S. shelled the Palestine Hotel in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, and an air strike hit the Baghdad bureau of the Qatar-based satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) filed three new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests related to the incidents with the U.S. Defense…
CPJ DISMAYED BY U.S. INVESTIGATION INTO KILLING OF REUTERS CAMERAMAN
New York, September 22, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is dismayed at the results of the U.S. military’s investigation into the August 17 killing of Reuters cameraman Mazen Dana, which concluded that U.S. soldiers acted within the rules of engagement when they shot Dana. “The U.S. military is acting as judge and jury in…
CPJ calls for full and public investigation into journalist’s death
Dear Secretary Rumsfeld: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is shocked by the death of Reuters television cameraman Mazen Dana, who was killed by machine gun fire from a U.S. tank near Baghdad yesterday. We demand a full, public investigation into this incident. According to several press accounts, Dana was struck in the chest while filming near Abu Ghraib Prison outside Baghdad, late in the afternoon on August 17. Dana had been reporting near the prison after a mortar attack had killed six Iraqis there the previous night. Eyewitnesses quoted by international media said that several journalists had been near the prison at the time of the incident and that a soldier in the tank fired on Dana as he filmed it approaching him from about 50 meters (55 yards).
Dana was recipient of CPJ International Press Freedom Award in 2001
New York, August 17, 2003—Mazen Dana, a veteran television cameraman for Reuters, was killed in Baghdad on Sunday while filming outside the city’s Abu Ghraib prison. According to wire service reports, Dana was shot by U.S.soldiers riding on a tank in the Iraqi capital. The 43-year-old Palestinian was honored by CPJ two years ago for…