Forty-seven IFEX members condemn massacre of journalists, call for justice

11/30/2009 11:20:00 AM

Attn: Members of the Philippines government, judiciary, police and military

We, the undersigned 47 members of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) network join the people of the Philippines in condemning, in the strongest terms possible, the massacre of at least 57 Filipinos in the southern Philippines.

Any murder is reprehensible, but as freedom of expression and press freedom advocates, we are especially appalled by the most recent media reports that at least 28 of those killed in the province of Maguindanao on 23 November 2009 were journalists.

IFEX members monitor attacks on journalists and media on a daily basis, throughout the world. Our members call attention to various forms of violence and threats not just to journalists, but to the larger environments in which independent media must survive. And still, the massacre of journalists in Maguindanao staggers our community. It is a crime of such scale and horror that is incomparable to anything we have seen.


Read the rest of the statement on the IFEX website.

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    Democracy, according to the late Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, is "a question of human dignity, [a]nd human dignity is political freedom, the right to freely express opinion and the right to be allowed to criticise and form opinions."

    But exercising political freedom in the Philippines, which purports itself to be a democracy, can lead to death. Since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed the presidency of the country in 2001, more than 800 Filipinos murdered in politically-motivated, extra-judicial, targeted killings. Since the 4th quarter of July 2005, one person has been killed every two days. The victims of these brazen acts of violence were all unarmed citizens: lawyers, judges, journalists, medical practitioners, members of cause-oriented groups, priests, church-workers, human rights advocates, laborers and farmers.

    It is widely believed—and the United Nations support this belief—that state security forces are complicit in these crimes.