File: Silhouetted against a blue sky, a photograher takes aim. (Morguefile)
Internationally, many journalists are killed all each year while gathering the news for us.
Two major organizations keep track of their deaths: the Committee To Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders. Both organizations have specific criteria governing the investigation and confirmation—as well as establishing motive—for each killing, including whether it occurred because of the journalistic activities of those killed. Both report their results annually.
In its annual report for 2014, the Committee to Protect Journalists, based in New York, identified 61 journalists whose deaths met their rigorous criteria. What follows is a brief summary, in chronological order, for each of those 61 journalists, with links to CPJ’s complete descriptions.
1 Jan 2014: Shan Dahar, an Abb Takk Television reporter covering illegal pharmaceutical sales, was hit in the back by a stray bullet in Larkana, Pakistan. Initially thought to be the result of gun fire during a new year’s celebration, “local media support groups suggested this was an intentional killing.”
13 Jan 2014: Michael Tshele, shot either by the police (community version of events) or by cross-fire between protestors and police (“official sources”), he was photographing villagers’ protest of dirty drinking water and sanitation conditions near Brtiz, South Africa.
20 Jan 2014: Firas Mohammed Attiyah, killed by a roadside bomb in Khalidiya, Iraq while providing news coverage for Fallujah TV. He was with a government patrol at the time. He had focused on conflict between the Iraqi Army and ISIS in Anbar province.
5-11 Feb 2014: Gregorio Jiménez de la Cruz, crime reporter for Notisur and Liberal del Sur, was kidnapped by armed men Feb 5th, tortured and killed, and found buried with two other people on Feb 11th in Las Choapas, Veracruz, Mexico. Dark story, many mysteries.
10 Feb 2014: Santiago Ilidio Andrade, Bandeirantes, TV camerman, was hit by a flare thrown from a crowd protesting fare hikes for public transportation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He died five days later.
13 Feb 2014: Pedro Palma, who owned the weekly Panorama Regional newspaper, was gunned down by two men on a motorcycle right outside his home in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Authorities suspect his murder might have been an example of “witness elimination”.
16 Feb 2014: Germain Kennedy Mumbere Muliwavyo, killed in an ambush in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was in a government military vehicle when Allied Democratic Forces opened fire. Skirmishes between the government and rebels had been ongoing for about a month.
19 Feb 2014: Vyacheslav Veremiy, was killed by “armed and masked men” he was filming from a taxi in downtown Kiev, Ukraine. His assailants stopped the taxi, beat him and a colleague with baseball bats, then shot Veremiy.
20 Feb 2014: Turad Mohamed al-Zahouri, was severely injured during shelling in Yabroud, Syria. al-Zahouri’s photographs were featured on Al-Qusair Lens (Facebook), AP, and other news outlets. He died five days after his injury in hospital in Arsal, Lebanon.
8 Mar 2014: Omar Abdul Qader, Al-Mayadeen (Beirut) TV station cameraman, was working in the war zone in Deir Al-Zour, Syria when a sniper’s bullet hit him in the neck.
9 Mar 2014: Ali Mustafa of Canada, freelance photographer was with eight others when they were blasted by bombs from a government helicopter in Aleppo, Syria. Mustafa was killed. His photographs from various protests, including in Egypt and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, were carried by The Guardian, Times of London, etc.
10 Mar 2014: Khaled Abdel Thamer, Al-Iraquiya TV cameraman, was in Hilla, Iraq when a suicide bomber explosion killed “dozens”, including Thamer. Preparations were underway in the town for the first elections since US forces departed Iraq.
10 Mar 2014: Muthanna Abdel Hussein, also a Al-Iraquiya TV cameraman, was with Abdel Thamer in Hilla, Iraq when the suicide bomb denotated. His mother was able to identify him from his socks and shoes.
11 Mar 2014: Nils Horner, journalist from Hong Kong, was investigating a suicide attack at a Kabul, Afghanistan restaurant for Sveriges Radio when he was gunned down by unidentified men. Feay-e-Mahaz, associated with the Taliban, claimed responsibility the following day.
28 Mar 2014: Mayada Ashraf, Al-Dustour reporter, was in Cairo, Egypt reporting on confrontations between police and Muslim Brotherhood. She had described the Muslim Brotherhood as a “terrorist group.” She was killed in Cairo by a shot to the head.
4 Apr 2014: Anja Niedringhaus, Associated Press photographer, was with an AP colleague in a car when a police officer fired at them, killing Niedringhaus and wounding her colleague. The two were covering election activities in Khost, Afghanistan.
6 Apr 2014: Rubylita Garcia, was fatally shot in her home in Bacoor City, Philippines by two men who sped off on a motorcycle. She reported for Remate as well as radio stations. Garcia was known as “a hard-hitting journalist who exposed wrongdoing in the Cavite police force”.
25 Apr 2014: Mouaz Alomar (Abu Mehdi Al Hamwi), 17-year old freelance journalist, was killed by government bomb explosion in Kafr Zita, Syria while uploading footage of bombings from a day earlier. Reuters, Al-Arabiya, Orient News, and local outlets had used his work.
30 Apr 2014: Bilal Ahmed Bilal was a reporter for Palestine Today. His death was announced from Sednaya Prison, Syria on April 30th, though the actual date of his death is unknown. He was said to have been tortured, and finally killed in the prison where he had been since 2011 after being found guilty of “protesting against the government and filming.”
4 May 2014: Al-Moutaz Bellah Ibrahim, with Shaam News Network, and freelancer, had covered Islamist militant activity in Raqqa, Syria. He was kidnapped there in March by the Islamic State group, killed sometime later and his body returned to his family on May 7th.
— May 2014: Camille Lepage, photojournalist from France whose photos appeared in Der Spiegel, Liberation, Internazionale, The Guardian and Le Monde. She was with the anti-Balaka, “a pro-government Christian militia” fighting Seleka forces in Bouar, Central African Republic when she was killed in an ambush that also left five anti-Balaka members dead. French troops found her body.
16 May 2014: Fausto Gabriel Alcaraz Garay, Radio Amambzy show host, against crime and drug trafficking, in an area notorious for drug trafficking, was shot 17 times by two men on a motorcycle as he was returning home from work in Pedro Juan Caballero, Paraguay.
21 May 2014: Sadrul Alam Nipul, who had covered drug trafficking for Dainik Mathabhanga in Chuadanga, Bangladesh, left his home following a late-night phone call and never returned. His dismembered body was discovered the following day in a railway station.
24 May 2014: Andrew Rocchelli, Italian photojournalist, was killed when a mortar shell hit the ditch where he and a colleague had sought shelter when the surprise attack began in Andreyevka, Ukraine.
26 May 2014: Muftah Bu Zeid, editor-in-chief of Brnieq, and a critic of Islamist militants, was in his car in Benghazi, Libya when armed men opened fire, shooting him in “the head, stomach, and hands.”
27 May 2014: Tarun Kumar Acharya, reporter for Oriya-language news outlets in Odisha, India, had exposed child labor abuses in a cashew processing plant. His body was found May 28th, his throat having been slit. The cashew processing plant owner was arrested.
15 Jun 2014: Khalid Ali Hamada, Al-Ahad TV cameraman was in Diyala Province, Iraq reporting on conflict between Iraq security forces and ISIS when he was killed. Two different reports: one, that he was killed by mortar shell, the other that “gunmen drove up to them and opened fire”.
17 Jun 2014: Igor Kornelyuk, with VGTRK of Russia, was in Metallist, Ukraine with a news crew. At a separatist’s checkpoint, Kornelyuk was badly wounded by mortar shells. He was in surgery for his wounds at a local hospital when he died.
19 Jun 2014: Edgar Pantaleón Fernández Fleitas, lawyer and radio program host of “Ciudad de la furia” which was “harshly critical of local judges, lawyers and officials in the Attorney General’s office,” was killed by a lone gunman at his home in Concepcion, Paraguay.
20 Jun 2014: Ahmed Hasan Ahmed, Xinhua News Agency photojournalist from Egypt, was reporting on Syrian presidential elections in Damascus, Syria, when he was killed by a bullet to the head. Apparently, the bullet came from a crowd of supporters of Bashar al-Assad who were celebrating his re-election.
21 Jun 2014: Yusuf Ahmed Abukar, of Mustaqbal Radio in Mogadishu, Somalia, had criticized the Al-Shabaab militia and Somali government as part of his reporting on humanitarian issues. His car blew up by a bomb attached to it.
27 Jun 2014: Mohamed Taani, of SMART News Agency in Daraa, Syria, covering Syrian army-rebel groups’ conflicts, was hit by barrel bomb shrapnel, became comatose and died six days later in hospital in Jordan.
30 Jun 2014: Anatoly Klyan, cameraman with state-owned Channel One, was in a bus with other journalists and civilians who had been invited by separatists to witness Ukrainian army soldiers “being greeted by their mothers.” The bus was attacked outside Donetsk, Ukraine, Kanal was hit and died of abdomen wounds in a local hospital.
20 July 2014: Khaled Reyadh Hamad, filming the peril Palestinian medics face for a local film company, was one of 60-some Palestinians and Israelis killed in fighting in Shijaiyah, Gaza, Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territory. Hamad was in an ambulance filming at the time it was hit by an Israeli shell.
30 Jul 2014: Rami Rayan, with Palestine Network for Press and Media, was killed in a market in Shijaiyah, Gaza, Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territory. At least 16 others also died (an additional 160 wounded) as Israeli forces attacked. Rayan was wearing a “PRESS” announcement on his vest.
30 Jul 2014: Sameh al-Aryan of Al-Aqsa TV, was also killed in the Israel attack at the market in Shijaiyah, Gaza, Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territory, along with Rami Rayan.
6 Aug 2014: Andrei Stenin, photojournalist with Russia’s Rossiya Segodny (RIA Novosti), was covering the conflict in eastern Ukraine when a car was found in Snizhne, Ukraine with three charred bodies inside. Photo equipment was in the trunk. Russian authorities said DNA tests confirmed that one of the bodies was that of Andrei Stenin, but mysteries remain.
8 Aug 2014: Leyla Yildizhan (Deniz Firat), Kurdish journalist, was reporting about clashes in Makhmur District, Iraq between Kurdish forces and Islamic State rebels. She was killed when mortar shell shrapnel hit her in the chest.
11 Aug 2014: Octavio Rojas Hernández, reporter for El Buen Tono Veracruz, had written about local security issues and Pemex oil pipeline thefts in Mexico. He was shot in front of his home by somebody who’d called claiming to be interested in buying a vehicle.
13 Aug 2014: Simone Camilli, Italian journalist with the Associated Press, was with Gaza police engineers trying to disable missiles fired from Israel. One of the missiles exploded in the process, killing Camilli, a translator and injuring others.
— Aug, 2014: James Foley, US journalist who reported through the Global Post and Agence France-Presse, was in Idlib Province, Syria when he was kidnapped by armed men in November, 2012. On 19 Aug 2014, the Islamic State released a video they said showed Foley’s execution.
28 Aug 2014: Ghulam Rasool, journalist student and intern at the Online International News Network, Quetta, Pakistan, as killed when two gunmen burst into the office and opened fire.
28 Aug 2014: Irshad Mastoi, bureau chief of the Online International News Network, Quetta, Pakistan, was killed along with Ghulam Rasool. Muhammad Younus, an accountant was also killed in the attack.
— Aug or Sep, 2014: Steven Sotloff, freelance journalist with US and Israeli citizenship, contributor to Time and Foreign Policy, was kidnapped in Aug 2013 at the Turkish-Syrian border. He was executed, somewhere in Syria, as documented by a video released by the Islamic State.
10 Sep 2014: Mohamed al-Qasim, Rozana Radio correspondent, was in a car with a rebel leader—who was also al-Qasim’s relative—in Idlib Province, Syria when they ran into gunfire and were killed.
16 Sep 2014: Facely Camara, intern reporter for Liberté FM, was with other journalists in Wome, Guinea covering a public health awareness campaign (Ebola) when locals began stoning them. Some had their throats slit and their bodies thrown into a septic tank. Camara was accompanied by Molou Cherif, technician with Radio Rurale de N’Zerekore, and by Sidiki Sidibe, intern technician, who were also murdered that day.
4 Oct 2014: Freelance reporter Aung Kyaw Naing, or “Par Gyi,” was covering rebel forces, when he was seized by the Burmese military, subsequently shot and killed by the military and buried outside Kyaikmayaw village.
15 Oct 2014: Atallah Bajbouj, reporter for the Nabaa Media Foundation, died in Jordan following hospitalization for shrapnel from a mortar shell explosion. He had been in Daraa, Syria covering the conflict there. The mortar shells were said to have come from an area “under government control”
16 Oct 2014: Pablo Medina Velázquez, correspondent for the independent ABC Color, was investigating toxic pesticides used in farming around Villa Ygatimi, Paraguay. Medina was returning home to Curuguaty, when two gunmen rode by on a motorcycle and gunned him down. Antonia Maribel Almada (19), assistant to Pablo Medin Velázquez, was gunned down also. Her sister, Juana Ruth, survived the attack and reportedly identified one of the assassins as involved with the drug cartels.
16 Nov 2014: Abdirizak Ali Abdi, reporting for Radio Daljir and HornCable TV, covering local politics, shot and killed by two unidentified men who immediately fled the restaurant where Abdirizak was dining in Galkayo, Puntland, Somalia. The shooters were never apprehended.
22 Nov 2014: Zaher Mtawe’e, reporter for the Zebdine Coordination Committee, covering government forces’ advances into Zebdine, Syria. A sniper shot him in the head even though he was “at least 700 meters away from fighting.”
26 Nov 2014: MVN Shankar, senior journalist for Andhra Prabha, beaten to death by men with iron rods in Chilakaluripet, Andhra Pradesh, India. His assailants were never identified. Shankar was reporting on the local “oil mafia”.
5 Dec 2014: Mohamed Isaq, Kalsan TV cameraman, was among 15 people killed by suicide bomber in Baidoa, Somali. Three other journalists were injured in the attack.
5 Dec 2014: Abdulkadir Ahmed, independent journalist, was also killed by suicide bomber in Baidoa, Somalia, along with Mohamed Isaq.
6 Dec 2014: Luke Somers, independent US journalist, was killed when US Special Forces tried to rescue him and Pierre Korkie (well-respected South African teacher) from Al-Qaeda members in Shabwa Province, Yemen. Somers was kidnapped while walking on a street in Sana’a, Yemen in September, 2013.
8 Dec 2014: Salem Khalil, cameraman for an opposition TV station, Orient News, died when a Syrian missile hit the car he and two other journalists were in as they were covering military action in a village in the Daraa Province, Syria.
8 Dec 2014: Rami Asmi, Orient News correspondent, along with Salem Khalil and another journalist was killed in the missile attack in Daraa Province, Syria.
8 Dec 2014: Yousef el-Dous, Orient News correspondent, who was accompanying Salem Khalil and Rami Asmi in Daraa Province, Syria, when the government missile struck their car.
10 Dec 2014: Mahran al-Deeri, Al-Jazeera correspondent, killed when his car collided with a vehicle driven by rebels near Sheikh Miskeen, Daraa Province, Syria.
21 Dec 2014: Zubair Hatami, TV cameraman, who was filming at a high school in Kabul, Afghanistan, where a play against suicide bombings was being performed, was fatally injured by a suicide bombing, for which the Taliban took credit.
23 Dec 2014: Marcos de Barros Leopoldo Guerra, lawyer, covered local politics and corruption on his blog, Ubatuba Cobra. He was in his home in Ubatuba, Sao Paulo, Brazil when his killers drove by on motorcycle, fired and hit Guerra in the face, back and abdomen.
In addition to these 61 journalists included in CPJ’s 2014 report are 11 media workers and another 19 other journalists whose deaths are still being investigated by CPJ. Their names and links to more information about them are at the bottom of this page.
This list was assembled from Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders sources by MyMPN blogger Kate Lanier.
Content posted to MyMPN open blogs is the opinion of the author alone, and should not be attributed to MintPress News.
