Impunity score: Philippines still 3rd worst country for journalists

MANILA, Philippines - A New York-based journalists' organization identified the Philippines as the third deadliest place without justice for journalists, following conflict-torn countries Iraq and Somalia.

For the fourth consecutive year, the country ranked third in Impunity Index of Community to Protect Journalists (CPJ) for having 55 unsolved cases of slain journalists since 1992.

CPJ said in the report posted Thursday that the index identifies countries where newsmen are "regularly" murdered and where governments are unable to punish perpetrators.

The Philippines, with 94.9 million-strong population, received an Impunity Index Rating of 0.580 unsolved journalist murders for every million inhabitants.

The group paid special attention to the 2009 incident in Maguindanao that claimed that lives of 55 people, including 32 journalists and media professionals. Suspects are yet to be prosecuted for the attack.

"Authorities in the Philippines, ranked third worst on CPJ’s index, have yet to make headway in the prosecution of dozens of suspects in a politically motivated massacre in Maguindanao province.

CPJ also pointed out how three key witnesses to the crime have been murdered in the course of the investigation.

The unsolved murders, however, did not end even when President Benigno Aquino III, who took office in 2010, vowed to reverse cases of impunity, CPJ noted.

"At least four journalists... have been killed for their reporting on Aquino's watch. Despite executive vows to turn back the tide of media killings, none of the cases has been solved," CPJ Senior Southeast Asia Representative Shawn Crispin said in a statement.

The twelve countries with highest impunity records as shown in the Community to Protect Journalists' index issued on Thursday.

Iraq remains to have the world's worst impunity score with 93 cases of journalists slays, with no one being punished for the crimes.

Somalia-based newsmen, meanwhile, suffered the most in 2012 with 12 murdered for their reporting work in the capital Mogadishu-the site of decades of war.

Following the Philippines' impunity record are Sri Lanka, Colombia, Afghanistan, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia and Brazil, respectively.