PH among countries where journalists’ murders most likely to go unpunished

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MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines ranks third after Iraq and Somalia among countries where journalists’ murders are most likely to go unpunished, according to the latest Global Impunity Index released by the Committee to Protect Journalists last month.

“Fresh violence and a failure to prosecute old cases kept Iraq, Somalia and the Philippines in the three worst slots on the Index,” CPJ said in a  report posted on its website.

The Philippines has been at No. 3 since 2010. Iraq, with 100 percent impunity, has ranked first since the survey began in 2008, while Somalia has been at the second spot for the last four years.

“More than 50 journalist murders that took place from 2004 to 2013 remain unsolved, belying the claim made in November 2013 by the office of President Aquino that ‘there is no more impunity’ in the Philippines,” CPJ said in the report.

While CPJ cited last year’s conviction of a gunman in the 2011 murder of Palawan broadcaster Gerardo Ortega as “a welcome development,” CPJ said “it did little to change the rampant impunity in the Philippines.”

A lone assailant shot Ortega on Jan. 24, 2011 inside a used-clothes store in Puerto Princesa City. Gunman Marlon Recamata was sentenced to life imprisonment in May last year. However, the alleged masterminds behind the killing—former Palawan governor Joel Reyes and his brother former Coron mayor Mario Reyes— remain at large.

The Impunity Index calculates the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of a country’s population, the CPJ said. This year’s index covered journalist murders for the period 2004 to 2013. Cases are considered “unsolved” when no convictions have been made, and only nations with five or more unsolved cases are included on the Index.

A total of 13 countries met the Index criteria. Aside from Iraq, Somalia and the Philippines, the other countries on this Index are  Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Mexico, Colombia, Pakistan, Russia, Brazil, Nigeria, India, and Syria, which joined the Index for the first time this year.

Source: Committee to Protect Journalists (https://www.cpj.org)