The year 2004 has been particularly devastating for the press worldwide, with a particularly high death toll brought about by the war in Iraq. From January through Nov. 3, no fewer than 46 journalists and media assistants have been killed while covering the conflict in Iraq, which is turning out to be one of the costliest in terms of media casualties.

The group Reporters Without Borders, who for the past 20 years has been active in promoting the rights of journalists and campaigning for greater liberty for the press around the world, called the current state of attacks against the press, a sorry tale.

In its latest report, Reporters Without Borders has meticulously documented transgressions against members of the Fourth Estate. The precise names, dates and events can be found on the group's Website, RSF.org. (RSF are the initials of the group as the are known by their name in French, Reporters Sans Frontieres.)

Reporter Without Borders say that journalists are still regularly targeted in more than half the member countries of the United Nations where violations of freedom of the press occur on a regular basis.

Most of the attacks targeting the media have occurred in Iraq with the deaths of 31 journalists, along with 14 people working as assistants, paying the ultimate price since fighting first broke out in March 2003,

More recently, a disturbing trend in Iraq has developed with a large number of journalists kidnapped by insurgents as the security situation continues to deteriorate. While the vast majority of reporters who were kidnapped were later released, two French reporters - Christian Chesnot, a correspondent for Radio France International, and Georges Malbrunot from Le Figaro newspaper - have remained missing for more than three months now. Their Syrian driver, Mohammad al-Jundi, who was also kidnapped with them, was found by U.S. troops during the recent assault on Fallujah.

The Middle East is not alone in treading on press liberties, either. In other parts of the world, 198 journalists have been jailed while trying to do their job. Reporters Without Borders has documented more than 1,450 cases of journalists who have been arrested, beaten, threatened with death, kidnapped or harassed and more than 320 media outlets censored so far this year.

Among the worst offenders is China, where the 2008 Olympic Games are to be held. Indeed, Beijing wins the gold medal in the field of abuses on the press, with 27 journalists, and a whopping 60 cyber-dissidents, currently detained in Chinese jails. Cuba takes the silver, coming in a close second with 26 jailed reporters. And 15 are detained in Iran.

Reporters Without Borders considers a cyber-dissident anyone imprisoned for setting up an independent news Website, one criticizing the authorities, or anyone posting such criticism online.

Among the many names mentioned by Reporters Without Borders is Huang Qi, founder of the Website tianwang.com. Huang was charged in January 2001 with subversion and inciting people to overthrow the government. He was accused of allowing critical material to be posted on his U.S-based Website, including articles about the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. He was only informed of his five-year sentence in May 2003, after he was already jailed.

He was denied visits by his family during his first three years of detention. According to his wife, Zeng Li, he was regularly beaten and forced to sleep on the floor of his cell for a year. He was also kept handcuffed in a small room for several months. He was frequently moved to a different cell because authorities said he talked too much to cellmates about corruption and politics.

Gao Qinrong, another former journalist with the official news agency Xinhua, was sentenced to 13 years in prison in April 1999 for publishing an in-depth report on a failed irrigation project in the Yungcheng region of Shanxi province.

The United States has also come under attack from Reporters Without Borders over the deaths of two journalists in Iraq in April 2003. The group said it was extremely disappointed that the final U.S. report on firing by American troops on Baghdad's Palestine Hotel had concluded that no fault or negligence could be attributed to U.S. troops.

As American troops entered Baghdad, a tank fired at the Palestine Hotel, which housed the international press. Reporters Without Borders states that its own investigation found the blame to befall on senior U.S. military officers for failing to alert the troops entering Baghdad that the hotel housed members of the international media. Reporters Without Borders found that the attack could have been avoided if the troops attached to the 3rd Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade had been told by the Pentagon that the hotel was full of journalists.

The U.S. army said the shelling was aimed at what was believed to be an enemy firing platform and observation point and that the soldiers understood the rules of engagement specifically as it applied to the right to self-defense.

More than 620 journalists have been killed in the past 15 years.

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