Sri Lanka has been listed in the 2011 ‘‘Impunity Index’’ prepared by an international media watchdog on the basis of unsolved murders of scribes.

Only 13 countries -- with five or more unsolved cases of murder of journalists from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2010 -- have been included on the index.

Sri Lanka is ranked 4th with nine (9) such instances, or 0.443 unsolved journalist murders per one million inhabitants, according to the report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

“All nine journalist murders in the past decade have gone unsolved, leaving persistent questions as to whether authorities have been complicit in some of the crimes.” the profile on Sri Lanka reads.

The island nation was also ranked 4th in last year’s list with a rating of 0.496.

Murders make up more than 70 per cent of work-related deaths among journalists across the world, according to CPJ.

The index calculated the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country’s population. Cases were considered unsolved when no convictions have been obtained.

The index, which lists Iraq as the top country in respect of unsolved scribe murders, does not include cases of journalists killed in combat or while carrying out dangerous assignments such as coverage of street protests.

Iraq has recorded 92 unsolved murders during this period, while the Philippines has reported 56 -- being the second highest in regard to number of such cases. When compared with the overall population of the country, Iraq remains at top followed by Somalia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Colombia.

The index released earlier this month places Pakistan at 10th spot and Bangladesh at 11th. Six of South Asian nations -- Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India -- are on the list.


(Excerpts from PTI)