Photo By Mohsin Abbas Special to The Hamilton Spectator
Group picture of Journalists in Exile (JEX) living in Canada

Thursday, May 03, 2007 Updated at 5:46 PM EDT
More than 81 journalists killed worldwide in 2006
MOHSIN ABBAS

Photo By Mohsin Abbas Special to The Hamilton Spectator
Group picture of Journalists in Exile (JEX) living in Canada


Related Links
Journalists in Exile (JEX) website
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Reporters without Borders
In 1998, Tara Singh Hayer, an immigrant journalist born in India, was killed in the garage of his British Columbia home. Almost a decade later, his murder remains unsolved.
It's a Canadian example of the killing of a journalist with impunity, the theme of this year's World Press Freedom Day, May 3.
More than 80 journalists were killed in 2006.
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) Executive Director Anne Game says, "the added tragedy is that in almost all of these cases, the killers and the masterminds behind the killings continue to walk free."
Statistics show that in 85 per cent of these cases no one will be held to account. Impunity within a country has a domino effect, she said, encouraging others to commit crimes, knowing that they will also go unpunished.
After holding the first protest rally against the military government in Pakistan, Zahir Babur was threatened by the country's secret services.
"They didn't like my work as a journalist and union leader and wanted to shut me up because I was working for human rights," said Babur, an exiled journalist living in Canada since 2002 .
When the Lahore Press Club building was raided by police in 2000, Babur was General Secretary of the largest journalist group in the country.
Babur worked for the Urdu Daily Pakistan and Recorder but left Pakistan when he grew tired of warnings about his work from the Secret Service and police.
"I was warned not to lead the press club, an organization of more than 900 journalists," added Babur.
Nine journalists who worked for the Daily Pakistan now live in exile in Canada.
World Press Freedom Day honours journalists who brave death or jail in pursuit of the truth.
In a recent report released by the Paris-based International News Safety Institute (INSI), the number of journalists killed in line of duty has escalated dramatically in recent years. In the past decade, more than a thousand media members have been slain, and in nine out of 10 cases, the perpetrators have never been prosecuted.
Reporters Without Borders says that 81 journalists and 32 media assistants were killed last year. It is the highest toll since 1994, when 103 died, half of them in the Rwandan genocide. An additional 1,400 attacks or threats were carried out against journalists - many of them during election campaigns in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe.
"We are watching the situation of immigrant journalists in Canada and will do our best to support the journalists living in Canada," said Emily Jacquard, Secretary General of the Canadian Section of Reporters Without Borders.
Many cases of the murders of journalists are never resolved, the sense of impunity only encourages more killings, advocates say. There is also little public sympathy for these cases.
"In countries such as Iran, Cuba or Pakistan, you cannot criticize the supreme leader, question the country's policies or even the economic corruption among the power-holders," notes Maryam Aghvami, an Iranian journalist who is now living in Toronto.
"If you are brave enough to do so, you are accused of acting against the country's national security, spreading lies and spying for Western powers," added Aghvami.
While there is no meaningful global data comparing journalists killed on the job with, for example, firefighters, Julie Payne, CJFE's program manager, says the consequences are more profound. The killing of a journalist undermines one of the primary means of holding people accountable - and serves to silence others.
Today, Canada has become the mecca for exiled journalists.The irony is that many journalists living in exile in Canada have been muzzled again in a land that prides itself on freedom of speech. They are struggling very hard to reach Canadian newsrooms.They have launched their own online magazine at www.jexcanada.com - to create a place to be heard.
After coming to Canada Zahir Babur completed a two-year broadcast journalism program but never found a job in a newsroom. He worked as security guard.
A few exiles are looking towards internships at media outlets this fall as part of their classes at the Sheridan College journalism program.
"These journalists in exile have paid a very high price for their commitment to press freedom. But these journalists will be working once again, doing what they do best - writing, photographing, recording and reporting, and exercising your right to freedom of expression," said Payne.
mabbas@thespec.com
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