Introduction
In 1998 unpunished crimes were placed on the international agenda. Nowadays, in certain countries, it seems to be accepted that if you kill a journalist you won’t get caught. Sometimes killings are not regarded as a priority and low grade officers are assigned to the investigations; in other instances, vested interests ensure that investigations are slow and inefficient. Whatever the reason, there is a lack of commitment to prosecuting those responsible.
When a journalist is killed, it is an attack against the entire population, not simply an individual. Whoever can silence the journalist can silence everyone. Unless the authorities make the investigations of these killings a priority, there is little hope for the protection of basic human rights, not just of journalists but of all.
The IFJ lists journalists killed while working or because of their work. We make no distinction between a correspondent caught in the crossfire while covering a war and the violent death of other journalists killed as a result of their work. Where there are doubts as to whether a journalist was killed for his work, but that remains a serious possibility, we list the case as Under Investigation.
In 1998, 31 journalists were killed. Nineteen other cases are listed as under investigation. These killings are only the tip of an iceberg of physical assaults, disappearances, and jailings which affect journalists every year.
Country by Country Analysis 1998
JK = Journalists Killed
UI/M = Under Investigation
| Country | Journalists Killed (JK) | Under Investigation (UI/M) |
| Afghanistan | 1 | 0 |
| Angola | 0 | 1 |
| Bangladesh | 1 | 0 |
| Brazil | 3 | 0 |
| Burkina Faso | 1 | 0 |
| Canada | 1 | 0 |
| Colombia | 3 | 7 |
| Congo Brazzaville | 1 | 0 |
| Ethiopia | 1 | 1 |
| FRY - Kosovo | 1 | 0 |
| Georgia | 1 | 0 |
| Guatemala | 1 | 1 |
| Iran | 2 | 1 |
| Mexico | 3 | 3 |
| Nigeria | 2 | 0 |
| Pakistan | 0 | 1 |
| Peru | 2 | 0 |
| Philippines | 1 | 1 |
| Russia | 4 | 1 |
| Rwanda | 0 | 1 |
| Sierra Leone | 1 | 0 |
| Tajikistan | 1 | 1 |
| Thailand | 1 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 31 | 19 |
(Figures compiled as of 22 December 1998)
PART I: CASES OF JOURNALISTS KILLED (JK)
AFGHANISTAN
CASE 1: Mahmoud Saremi
News Organ: Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) | Sector: Wire | Date: August/September 1998
Description: Saremi, the Afghanistan bureau chief for the Iranian news agency, was abducted by members of the Taliban militia in Mazar-i-Sharif on August 8 along with 10 Iranian diplomats. On September 11, the Taliban movement announced that the diplomats and the journalist had been killed by Taliban fighters "acting on their own".
BANGLADESH
CASE 2: Saiful Alam Mukul
News Organ: Daily Runner | Sector: Press | Date: 31 August 1998
Description: Mukul, editor of the Daily Runner, was killed by gunmen in Jessore while traveling home by rickshaw. His vehicle was sprayed with bullets, and he was declared dead on arrival at Jessore General Hospital. The paper exposed gang activity, corruption, and guerrilla groups. Mukul had halted publication on June 25 in protest of crime complacency and was scheduled to resume printing on September 1.
BRAZIL
CASE 3: Manuel Leal de Oliveira
News Organ: A Região | Sector: Press | Date: 15 January 1998
Description: Leal de Oliveira, publisher and editor of the largest weekly in southern Bahia State, was fatally shot by two unidentified men. A white van followed his car as he drove home in Itabuna. When he stepped out, two men exited the van and fired six bullets at him. He was known for critical reporting exposing the local mayor and a Civil Police marshal.
CASE 4: Jose Carlos Mesquita
News Organ: Ouro Verde | Sector: Television | Date: 10 March 1998
Description: Mesquita was shot three times in the head by three unidentified individuals in the town of Ouro Preto do Oeste. He was the host of a news programme in Rondonia State and had just finished recording Espaco Aberto, a segment covering politically-sensitive topics such as public transportation safety. Local journalists suspect the hit was ordered by local officials.
CASE 5: Miguel Pereira De Melo
News Organ: Correio Do Tocantins | Sector: Press | Date: 6 November 1998 (Age: 45)
Description: De Melo died in a hospital a day after being shot in the thorax by a gunman in Maraba. He was globally recognized for taking the only photos of the April 1996 Eldorado de Carajas massacre of landless peasants by military police. He was shot on November 5, just a day after receiving an official summons to testify at a court investigation into the massacre.
BURKINA FASO
CASE 6: Norbert Zongo
News Organ: L’indépendant | Sector: Press | Date: 13 December 1998
Description: Zongo’s body was found inside his car alongside his brother, his chauffeur, and one other person. The vehicle's body was pierced by bullet holes, and the interior was burned. As editor-in-chief of the private weekly, Zongo had recently published articles accusing the head of state’s brother of involvement in the death of his chauffeur. He was the President of the Association of Independent Newspapers (SEP).
CANADA
CASE 7: Tara Singh Hayer
News Organ: Indo-Canadian Times | Sector: Press | Date: 18 November 1998 (Age: 64)
Description: Hayer was shot to death in the garage of his Surrey home after returning from his newspaper office. He was transferring from his vehicle to his wheelchair when he was fired upon. Hayer published Canada's oldest Punjabi weekly and was an outspoken critic of violent Sikh fundamentalists. He survived a 1988 assassination attempt that left him partially paralyzed.
COLOMBIA
CASE 8: Oscar Garcia Calderon
News Organ: El Espectador | Sector: Press | Date: 22 February 1998
Description: Garcia Calderon left his office at 7:30 p.m. after covering that day's bullfights and was shot dead at 8:00 p.m. in Ciudad Salitre. He sustained two gunshots to the head and one to the neck. While his wallet was taken, his watch and gold ring were left behind, discounting simple robbery. He was investigating links between bullfighting and organized crime.
CASE 9: Nelson Carvajal Carvajal
News Organ: Radio Sur | Sector: Radio | Date: 16 April 1998
Description: Carvajal, a teacher and journalist, was shot and killed in Pitalito by a young man waiting for him outside the elementary school where he taught. The gunman escaped on a motorcycle. Carvajal produced community programmes and provided investigative pieces on local government corruption implicating former municipal administrators.
CASE 10: Bernabe Cortes Valderrama
News Organ: Telepacifico | Sector: Television | Date: 19 May 1998 (Age: 41)
Description: Cortes was murdered in Cali by gunmen who opened fire on the taxi he was riding in near his office, killing both him and the driver. He reported for Noticias CVN on drug trafficking, corruption, and FARC guerrilla negotiations. He was en route to an appointment with a source who paged him with "important news".
CONGO BRAZZAVILLE
CASE 11: Fabien Fortune Bitoumbo
News Organ: Radio Liberté | Sector: Radio | Date: 29 August 1998
Description: Bitoumbo, a radio journalist and former newspaper editor-in-chief, was gunned down at point-blank range by the "Ninjas" militia group led by Bernard Kolela. Bitoumbo was on an assignment accompanying the Minister of Mining and Industry to Mindouli when the militia took the party hostage and killed the journalist.
ETHIOPIA
CASE 12: Abaye Hailu
News Organ: Wolafen | Sector: Press | Date: 12 February 1998
Description: Hailu, Editor-in-Chief of Wolafen, died in custody. He was incarcerated in February 1996 for articles regarding "Islamic Fundamentalism" and spent two years in prison because he could not meet bail terms. He suffered from a severe lung condition and was only transferred to Menilik Hospital after his health deteriorated past recovery.
FRY - KOSOVO
CASE 13: Afrim Maliqi
News Organ: Bujku | Sector: Press | Date: 2 December 1998 (Age: 31)
Description: Maliqi, a Prishtina-based journalist, was killed in an ambush in the city centre around 5:00 p.m. Masked assailants shot at his car, killing all three occupants. Maliqi had shared fears that he was being followed. He wrote a cultural column criticizing Serbian policy toward the Albanian language community.
GEORGIA
CASE 14: Georgy Chanya
News Organ: Rezonants | Sector: Press | Date: 27 May 1998 (Age: 25)
Description: Chanya was killed while covering clashes between Abkhaz rebels and Georgian guerrillas near Gali. He crossed into the separatist region to report on ethnic cleansing. As violence escalated, he stayed behind to follow a band of guerrillas to file front-line reports, dying during a raid on their camp. His body was heavily mutilated and identified via personal documents.
IRAN
CASE 15: Mohammad Mokhtari
News Organ: Various Publications | Sector: Press | Date: 3/9 December 1998
Description: Mokhtari, a poet and writer who contributed to various papers, was found dead on December 9 after being missing for 6 days. Marks on his head and neck indicated he had been strangled. He was one of several writers questioned shortly before his death regarding a new writers' association initiative called Kanoun.
CASE 16: Mohammad Ja'frah Pouyandeh
News Organ: Independent Essayist | Sector: Press | Date: 9/11 December 1998
Description: Pouyandeh, an essayist and translator, vanished on December 9 on his way to a meeting. His body was found strangled under a railway bridge in a Tehran suburb on December 11. He was also questioned in October regarding the Kanoun writers' association. Both he and Mokhtari died within a two-week window.
MEXICO
CASE 17: Luis Mario Garcia
News Organ: La Tarde | Sector: Press | Date: 12 February 1998
Description: Garcia, a judicial correspondent covering the Attorney General's office, was assassinated as he exited the facility. Four individuals armed with automatic weapons followed him and fired nine shots before fleeing. Garcia had authored multiple reports on police corruption and had recently received death threats.
CASE 18: Claudio Cortés García
News Organ: Le Monde Diplomatique (Mexican Edition) | Sector: Press | Date: 23 October 1998
Description: Cortés García was discovered dead in the back seat of a vehicle in Mexico City after vanishing on October 20. The journalist, who also worked for Reforma, El Financiero, and La Crísis magazine, was the son of a former political prisoner.
CASE 19: Pedro Valle Hernández
News Organ: Guerrero Television | Sector: Television | Date: 29 October 1998 (Age: 28)
Description: Valle Hernández, a television reporter, was shot dead in his car in the Pacific coast city of Zihuatanejo. He was shot in the back of his neck. He was frequently critical of local officials, and his final investigative report, broadcast posthumously on the day he died, exposed a local child prostitution ring.
NIGERIA
CASE 20: Tunde Oladepo
News Organ: Guardian | Sector: Press | Date: 27 February 1998
Description: Unidentified armed men broke into Oladepo's Ogun State home and shot the senior editor in front of his wife and children. The gunmen stayed in the house for two hours and eventually left with a television and clothes. Sources link the killing to his journalistic reporting on local politics.
CASE 21: Okezie Amaruben
News Organ: Newsservice | Sector: Press | Date: 28 August 1998
Description: Amaruben, a publisher and journalist, was shot through the skull by a policeman in Enugu. He visited a printing shop to check on a job when police arrived to arrest the printer over a customer complaint. Missing the printer, police pounced on Amaruben. An officer shoved a gun barrel onto his forehead, striking him while yelling "move!" before shooting him through the head near their vehicle.
PERU
CASE 22 & 23: Isabel Chumpitaz Panta & Jose Amaya Jacinto
News Organ: La Voz del Pueblo | Sector: Radio | Date: 6 April 1998
Description: Chumpitaz Panta (a journalist) and her husband Amaya Jacinto (an announcer) were killed by a group of armed individuals. Two relatives attempting to defend them were seriously injured. A witness heard the attackers accuse the broadcasters of "educating the agricultural workers of the region". Reports suggested local police had prior knowledge of the plot and intentionally left the escape routes unguarded.
PHILIPPINES
CASE 24: Reynaldo Bancayrin
News Organ: DXLL | Sector: Radio | Date: 30 March 1998
Description: Bancayrin was murdered inside his broadcasting booth in Zamboanga. While presenting his programme Bale Todo, two men knocked on the door. Upon entering, one shot him at point-blank range with a .45-caliber gun while the other held back staff. He was a popular commentator running a crusade against official corruption, illegal loggers, and drug trafficking.
RUSSIA
CASE 25: Ivan Fedyunin
News Organ: Bryanskie Izvestiya | Sector: Press | Date: 31 March 1998
Description: Fedyunin, editor of the politics department of the regional paper, was killed in his apartment. His body, covered in stab wounds, was found on April 2. Days prior, he received threatening calls after publishing critical reports targeting the financial activities of several Bryansk companies.
CASE 26: Igor Lykov
News Organ: Independent Press | Sector: Press | Date: 2 May 1998
Description: Police major and journalist Igor Lykov was shot twice at point-blank range in his Saratov apartment. Lykov had repeatedly published exposés in local and Moscow press regarding corruption and unlawful actions inside law enforcement bodies. He faced ongoing disciplinary actions, including criminal suits and dismissals, for his reporting.
CASE 27: Larisa Yudina
News Organ: Sovetskaya Kalmykia Segodnya | Sector: Press | Date: 7 June 1998
Description: Yudina, editor-in-chief of Kalmykia's sole independent paper, was murdered in Elista, her skull fractured and body dumped in a pond. An individual lured her out by promising documents detailing financial misappropriations implicating the republic's autocratic president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Her paper consistently uncovered administrative bribes and corruption.
CASE 28: Anatoly Levin-Utkin
News Organ: Yuridichesky Peterburg Segodnya | Sector: Press | Date: 24 August 1998
Description: Levin-Utkin, deputy editor-in-chief, was assaulted by two unknown men on his porch in St. Petersburg. He suffered severe head trauma and died without regaining consciousness. His briefcase, containing layout materials for the next issue, photo gear, and exposed film, was stolen. The upcoming issue focused on corruption in local banking circles.
SIERRA LEONE
CASE 29: Edward Smith
News Organ: BBC | Sector: Radio | Date: 13 April 1998
Description: Smith, a respected reporter covering the northeastern region for the BBC, was killed in an ambush in Banbanduhun. He was traveling with West African ECOMOG peacekeeping soldiers in the Kono district when junta forces ambushed their vehicles. An ECOMOG soldier was also killed in the attack.
TAJIKISTAN
CASE 30: Meirkhaim Gavrielov
News Organ: Donish | Sector: Press | Date: 8 June 1998 (Age: 70)
Description: Unknown individuals burst into Gavrielov's home, beating and strangling him with an iron wire. Gavrielov had worked in Tajik media for over 50 years and was the editor-in-chief of the Tajik Agrarian University paper, Donish, since 1979. He was also a writer in the Bukharian Jewish Section of the Writers Union.
THAILAND
CASE 31: Sayomchai Vijitwittayapong
News Organ: Matichon / Khao-sod / Thai Post | Sector: Press | Date: 10 January 1998 (Age: 40)
Description: Vijitwittayapong, a stringer for several daily papers, was found shot dead inside his car in Phichit Province. He had agreed to meet someone following a mysterious phone call. Prior to this, he had rejected a major bribe of 150,000 Baht offered to stop his investigations into corruption surrounding a small irrigation dam project.
PART II: CASES UNDER INVESTIGATION (UI/M)
CASE 1 [Angola] — Simao Roberto: A journalist for the government-owned Jornal de Angola; shot down in Luanda on June 5 while returning from covering a council of ministers meeting at the State House.
CASE 2 [Colombia] — Didier Aristizabal Galeano: Political reporter and journalism professor; shot nine times by two men on a Yamaha motorcycle at a traffic light outside the Santiago de Cali University.
CASE 3 [Colombia] — Jose Abel Salazar Serna: Host of the programme Youth in Action on Todelar radio; found stabbed 15 times inside his apartment in Manizales.
CASE 4 [Colombia] — Amparo Leonor Jiménez Pallares: Valledupar correspondent for En Vivo and peace network worker; shot in the head three times after dropping her son off at school.
CASE 5 [Colombia] — Nelson Osorio Patiño: Sports producer and owner of Caquetá sports newspaper and Revista 7; shot twice in the head and twice in the shoulder outside a Bogotá car repair shop by assailants on a motorcycle.
CASE 6 [Colombia] — Nestor Villar Jimenez: Prominent journalist and former congressman; killed by gunmen in Villavicencio under circumstances similar to his brother's murder two years prior.
CASE 7 [Colombia] — Saúl Alcaraz: Spokesperson for the environmental group Instituto Mi Río and former weekend news correspondent; shot and killed in Medellín.
CASE 8 [Colombia] — Jose Arturo Guapacha: Director of the weekly El Panorama de Cartago for 10 years; fatally shot in the head by a gunman waiting near a garage exit.
CASE 9 [Ethiopia] — Tesfaye Tadesse: Owner and editor of Mestawet and Lubar; hacked and stabbed to death by two unidentified men using a knife and a machete outside his home.
CASE 10 [Guatemala] — Antonio Castillo Gálvez: Editor with state-owned television news Avances; shot three times by unknown individuals outside his residence in Guatemala City.
CASE 11 [Iran] — Majid Sharif: Writer and translator contributing to Iran Farda; vanished on November 20, and his body was located in a Tehran morgue on November 24 without marks of beating or torture. His work called for modern Islamic approaches.
CASE 12 [Mexico] — Fernando Martinez Ochoa: A reporter based in Juarez; discovered dead inside his car.
CASE 13 [Mexico] — Eduardo Mendosa: A journalist found stabbed to death on the back seat of his vehicle.
CASE 14 [Mexico] — Philip True: A US citizen and reporter for San Antonio Express-News; disappeared in the rugged Sierra Madre while tracking an in-depth piece on Huichol Indians. His body was found at the bottom of a ravine, strangled with a cloth and bearing head injuries and signs of sexual assault. His watch and wedding ring were untouched.
CASE 15 [Pakistan] — Lakhano Siyal:
News Organ: Aftab / Ibrat / Mehran | Sector: Press | Date: 18 October 1998
Description: Siyal, a senior journalist and former vice-president of the Hyderabad Press Club, was found murdered inside his home. He was gagged with a cloth and attacked with a sharp-edged weapon. A blood-stained shalwar suit and clothes left behind indicated the killers changed before escaping. Two young boys who regularly visited him were last seen at the house.
CASE 16 [Philippines] — Nelson Catipay: Cotabato City correspondent for radio station DXMY; shot nine times by two fellow passengers while traveling in a passenger minivan (jeepney) to a news conference.
CASE 17 [Russia] — Vladimir Zbaratski: A staff member of the ITAR-TASS news agency; assaulted, beaten, and robbed on Mosfilmovskaya Street in Moscow late at night while returning from his office.
CASE 18 [Rwanda] — Wilson Ndayambadje: Gisenyi reporter for National Rwandan Radio and Television; beaten to death by a national army soldier following a personal altercation.
CASE 19 [Tajikistan] — Otakhon Latyfi: Prominent Tajik journalist; shot and murdered near his residence on September 22.
PART III: DOCUMENTATION SOURCES
ANP: Associación Nacional de Periodista del Peru
CPJ: Committee to Protect Journalists (USA)
FENAJ: Federaçao Nacional do Jornalistas
GDF / JUR: Glasnost Defence Foundation / Journalists Union of Russia
IPI: International Press Institute (Vienna)
MISA: Media Institute of Southern Africa
PPF: Pakistan Press Foundation
RSF: Reporters Sans Frontières (France)
WiPC: Writers in Prison Committee (London)
