The Rudd Government must use every diplomatic avenue to pressure the Arroyo administration in the Philippines to order an immediate, independent investigation into the massacre in Mindanao this week of members of a 60 person convoy, among whom at least 32 were journalists. Identification of bodies continues. The Alliance has written to the minister for Foreign Affairs, Stephen Smith, asking him to urgently intervene to put pressure on the Philippines government to investigate these murders and to further guarantee the safety of media workers in the region. 

There are serious concerns for the safety of journalists who are travelling to the area to cover the story. It is alleged that security forces are implicated in the killings.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines will lead a mission tomorrow to Mindanao to investigate the murders.

Alliance federal secretary, Christopher Warren, who is immediate past president of the International Federation of Journalists, said that given the lack of an immediate response from the Philippines government, the international community must exert strong pressure on the Arroyo administration to take action.

 “The Arroyo administration has presided over a country where political killings have become commonplace and journalists are not safe. The Philippines is the most dangerous country in the world in which to work as a journalist,” Mr Warren said.

“We have written to the minister for Foreign Affairs, Stephen Smith, asking him to urgently intervene to put pressure on the Philippines government to investigate these murders and to further guarantee the safety of media workers in the region.

“The Arroyo administration must put aside its political affiliations to ensure an immediate, independent and effective inquiry into this terrible atrocity. We call on the international community to put every pressure on the Arroyo administration to ensure that the murderers are brought to justice.

“Journalists everywhere should be thinking of ways in which to pressure their governments to respond in the strongest possible terms.”

The Alliance expresses its deepest sympathy to the families and colleagues of the media personnel killed in Mindanao.