Join us in demanding action for the victims of the Ampatuan massacre. On 23 November 2009, Esmael Mangudadatu planned to register his candidacy for governor of Maguindanao. His rivals from the Ampatuan clan – who have controlled Maguindanao since 2001 with the backing of the Philippine government – had vowed to block his efforts, so instead he sent along journalists and some female relatives, believing they would be safe. An hour into the drive, 200 armed men ambushed the convoy; 58 people, including 32 journalists and media workers, were slaughtered in the single deadliest incident for journalists in history.
Two years on, dozens of suspects remain at large, including members of the Ampatuan family. The trials have been painfully slow, and attempts to subvert the judicial process – with bribes, threats and intimidation of families and witnesses – continue. The Ampatuans have been linked to at least 56 other killings over the past 20 years. The government has failed to seriously investigate any of the atrocities.
International Day to End Impunity is on 23 November. Until that date, we will reveal a story each day of a journalist, writer or free expression advocate who was killed in the line of duty.
To mark the inaugural International Day to End Impunity on 23 November, join Index in demanding justice for journalists’ murdered in the line of duty
Freedom of Expression Organisations Call for Justice on International Day to End Impunity
London, November 23, 2011
Today Index on Censorship, Article 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists and English PEN join dozens of freedom of expression organisations around the world to mark the inaugural International Day to End Impunity.
In the past 10 years, more than 500 journalists have been killed. In nine out of 10 cases, the murderers have gone free. Many others targeted for exercising their right to freedom of expression — artists, writers, musicians, activists — join their ranks.
On this day two years ago the single deadliest event for the media took place when 30 journalists and two support workers were brutally killed in Ampatuan, Maguindanao province, The Philippines. The journalists were part of a convoy accompanying supporters of a local politician filing candidacy papers for provincial governor. In total the “Maguindanao Massacre” as it has come to be known, claimed 58 victims. Not one of more than a hundred individuals suspected of involvement in the atrocity has been convicted yet.
We join those in the Philippines not only in honouring their slain colleagues, friends and family members, but demanding justice for them and hundreds more in Russia, Belarus, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Colombia, Iraq and Somalia and other countries where killings of journalists and free expression activists have repeatedly gone unpunished. Above all we demand an end to the cycle violence and impunity.
This year alone at least 17 journalists were murdered for their work. These include Pakistani journalist Saleem Shahzad, whose body was found May 31 showing signs of torture. They include Mexican journalist and social media activist Maria Elizabeth Macías Castro Macías, whose killers left a computer keyboard and a note with the journalist’s body saying she had been killed for writing on social media websites. These heinous acts not only silence the messenger, but are intended to intimidate all others from bringing news and sharing critical voices with the public.
We call on governments around the world to investigate and prosecute these crimes and bring an end to impunity.
Article 19 English PEN
Committee to Protect Journalists Index on Censorship
23 November marks the anniversary of the 2009 Ampatuan massacre, in which 34 journalists were murdered in an election-related killing in the Philippines, making it the single deadliest incident for journalists in recent history.
MURDERED 12 NOVEMBER 2004 Gene Boyd Lumawag Photo Editor, MindaNews news service — Jolo, Philippines
Join us in demanding justice for Gene Boyd Lumawag, shot in the head and killed instantly by an unidentified gunman in Jolo, Sulu, on 12 November 2004. Lumawag was preparing a story on good governance in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.
The exact motive for Lumawag’s murder was unclear. Army investigators and the head of the local anti-terrorism unit said they suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf, the Islamic separatist group linked to al-Qaeda that has made headlines in recent years with high-profile kidnappings for ransom. In late 2004, charges were filed against members of Abu Sayyaf, but the case remains unsolved. Military officials claimed that the suspects were killed in one of their operations against Abu Sayyaf.
International Day to End Impunity is on 23 November. Until that date, we will reveal a story each day of a journalist, writer or free expression advocate who was killed in the line of duty.
A year after the Philippines witnessed the mass slaughter of 58 people, including 32 journalists, justice for the victims’ families seems a distant prospect. Harry Roque reports. (more…)
A year after the Philippines witnessed the mass slaughter of 58 people, including 32 journalists, justice for the victims’ families seems a distant prospect. Harry Roque reports.
MURDERED 23 NOVEMBER 2009