WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- The year 2006 had the sad distinction of being the deadliest year for the press. Eighty-one journalists and 32 media assistants were killed in 21 countries, while 56 journalists were kidnapped. It makes the year that just elapsed the deadliest year since 1994, according to the Paris-based media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders.
Another 871 journalists were arrested; 1,472 were physically attacked or threatened; 912 media outlets were censored.
Almost half the kidnappings occurred in Iraq (17) and Gaza (six). All those seized in the Palestinian Territories were freed, but six in Iraq were executed by their captors.
By comparison to 2005, 63 journalists and five media assistants were killed; at least 807 were arrested; 1,308 were physically attacked or threatened and 1,006 media outlets censored.
For the press Iraq remains the world's most dangerous country for the fourth consecutive year. The ever-increasing violence has claimed the lives of 64 journalists and media assistants. Since 2003, when hostilities first erupted, 139 journalists have been killed in Iraq, more than twice the number that died during the 20-year Vietnam War (63 killed between 1955 and 1975). About 90 percent of the victims were Iraqis. Investigations into the killings were rarely, if ever, carried out. None were completed.
In its methodology Reporters Without Borders only includes journalists whose deaths are directly linked to their work as journalists. Dozens of cases have not been counted because investigators have not determined the motives or been able to tie them to reporting issues.
The second most dangerous country for journalists is Mexico, which moved ahead of Colombia as Latin America's deadliest place for the media. Nine journalists were killed in Mexico in 2006 for investigating drug trafficking or reporting on violent social unrest. U.S. cameraman Brad Will was shot dead in late October in turbulent Oaxaca state, where strikes often degenerated into armed clashes.
Enrique Pera Quintanilla's body was found by the roadside in the northern state of Chihuahua last August. He was the editor of the monthly Dos Caras, Una Verdad, a paper specializing in reporting on unsolved murders and drug trafficking.
In The Philippines six journalists were killed (compared to seven in 2005). Fernando Batul, a commentator with radio dyPR, was shot dead in late May on his way to work on Palawan Island, southwest of Manila. According to authorities he was killed for criticizing a brutal policeman, who was subsequently arrested and will shortly be tried. The March 2005 killers of anti-corruption columnist Marlene Esperat were jailed for life. But those punished were only triggermen, while those who ordered the killings remain free.
In Russia three journalists were killed bringing the total since President Vladimir Putin came to power in March 2000 to 21. In October reporter Anna Politkovskaya, of the weekly Novaya Gazeta and a Chechnya expert was murdered. Under international pressure to find and punish the culprits, the government has assigned a team of 150 detectives to the case.
Authorities in Turkmenistan cracked down on press freedom in September when the family of Radio Free Europe correspondent Ogulsapar Muradova announced she had died in prison three months after being jailed. Authorities ignored repeated demands by the European Union to investigate her death.
Belarus cracked down on journalists and regime opponents a few days after President Alexander Lukashenko's reelection in March. A dozen local and foreign reporters were physically attacked, including Olga Ulevich, Russian correspondent of the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, whose nose was broken when plainclothes police beat her up.
In Lebanon a press photographer and a TV technician were killed by Israeli bombing during the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah. A dozen journalists were injured during the fighting.
Overall, Reporters Without Borders registered a record 1,400 physical attacks or threats in 2006.
Attacks on journalists in Bangladesh have become routine.
Reporters Without Borders has registered more than a dozen physical attacks and an equal number of threats on journalists in Peru, while in Brazil a daily newspaper's office was ransacked on election day by supporters of a local politician in the southern town of Marilia.
Journalists are regularly attacked in the Democratic Republic of Congo by supporters of outgoing President Joseph Kabila and his rival Jean-Pierre Bemba.
Cases of censorship were slightly down -- 912 against 1,006 in 2005 - but Nepal had the worst record.
Following Thailand's military coup in September more than 300 community radio stations were shut down along with several Internet websites. Things returned to normal after a few weeks.
Obtaining precise information on censorship in China, Burma and North Korea remains impossible, where the media is tightly controlled.
The Internet continues to be tightly controlled in a number of countries. Reporters Without Borders named 13 "enemies of the Internet;" Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Bloggers and cyber-dissidents are regularly jailed,
About 30 bloggers were arrested during the year and held for several weeks, notably in China, Iran and Syria. Egypt appeared for the first time on the "enemies of the Internet" list for its growing crackdown on bloggers who criticized Islam or President Hosni Mubarak.
Burma's famous journalist and pro-democracy activist, Win Tin, began his 18th year in prison. He was awarded the 2006 Reporters Without Borders - Fondation de France prize for his fight for freedom of expression.
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