(AFP PHOTO / MAHMOUD KHALED)
By Marwa Al-A’sar
Eleven journalists were killed while working in Egypt between 28 January 2011 and 28 March 2014, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) said on Saturday.
“Most of those responsible for killing those journalists haven’t been brought to justice yet,” the ANHRI statement said, announcing the release of a booklet entitled “The Journalism Martyrs in Egypt and Escaping Justice.”
The killed journalists belonged to state-owned media, as well as local and international independent media outlets.
The ANHRI holds the police responsible for the death of five journalists, the Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters for murdering three, the armed forces for causing the death of two others, while the person or entity behind the killing of one reporter remains unknown.
“The 55-page booklet includes the names of the journalists and their pictures, to highlight a phenomenon new to Egypt, the killing of journalists,” the statement said.
The statement added that such incidents were accompanied by a lack of justice that first emerged during the reign of ousted president Hosni Mubarak.
“Yet the governments that came to power consecutively became involved to a great extent in the same practices… while justice remained absent and the sovereignty of law became a pressing demand wasted by the absence of a political will to impose it,” the statement added.
The ANHRI called for finding specific mechanisms that hinder such occurrences, putting forward several recommendations for a number of entities.
The rights group called on the authorities to provide reporters with the necessary protective measures inside risky areas and to offer the judiciary the required information and evidence to help identify the perpetrators.
The ANHRI further urged the public prosecutor to open an investigation into the death of each individual case.
