( CNN ) -- The Committee to Protect Journalists has placed 12 countries on its Impunity Index , a list of countries where journalists have been killed and their killers have not been found . The organization 's third annual compilation , released Tuesday , cites Iraq , Somalia , Philippines , Sri Lanka , Colombia , Afghanistan , Nepal , Russia , Mexico , Pakistan , Bangladesh and India . The index , which covers 2000 through 2009 , describes the countries as places `` where journalists are murdered on a recurring basis and governments are unable or unwilling to prosecute the killers . '' Leading the field for the third consecutive year was Iraq , where all 88 journalist killings remain unsolved , the committee said . All but seven cases involve local journalists , `` the vast majority of whom '' were targeted by insurgents , it said on its website . But last year marked the first since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 that no killing directly related to a journalist 's work was documented there by the organization . Still , four journalists were killed in crossfire in 2009 , it said . Iraq 's Impunity Index Rating was 2.794 unsolved journalist killings per million inhabitants , nearly triple the rate of any other country . Somalia ranked second , `` reflecting insurgents ' routine use of violence to control the news media , '' CPJ said . The incidence of fatal , unpunished violence against journalists has increased in the Philippines , Somalia , Russia and Mexico , it said . But Brazil and Colombia , long among the world 's deadliest nations for the news media , each showed improvements , with Brazil moving off the list , the committee reported . `` We 've heard repeated pledges from governments that the killers of journalists will face justice , but until these promises are fulfilled , media will continue to be targeted by those who believe they are above the law and immune from consequences , '' said Joel Simon , CPJ 's executive director . The group noted that many of the countries on the index present themselves as democracies with functioning law enforcement -- nations such as India , Russia , the Philippines , and Mexico . The index includes only those nations with five or more unsolved cases . In the Philippines , 30 journalists and two media support workers were killed in Maguindanao province , it said , boosting the country from sixth to third on the index . `` The massacre overshadowed gains that Philippine authorities had made , winning convictions in two journalist murders , '' the committee said . In Russia , which ranked eighth , three journalists were killed last year , bringing the country 's 10-year total of unsolved killings to 18 , it said . Mexico moved from 11th to ninth , reflecting continuing violence against crime reporters there , it said . In Mexico , self-censorship is widespread , it said . Many nations on the list have seen a reduction in the flow of information . In fourth-ranked Sri Lanka , with 10 unsolved killings , `` many of the country 's most senior journalists have fled into exile , '' the CPJ said . `` Our goal in compiling this index is to spur leaders in these nations to action , '' said Simon . `` Many of these cases are solvable . The perpetrators have been identified but authorities lack the political will to prosecute . '' CPJ released the index to coincide with a summit on impunity being held Tuesday and Wednesday in New York . The index calculates the number of unsolved journalist killings as a percentage of the country 's population . Only nations with five or more unsolved cases were included . CPJ includes only those killings that are considered to have been deliberate attacks against specific journalists in relation to their work . It does not tally cases of journalists killed in combat or while carrying out other dangerous assignments . `` The only thing you can say about it is that the murder of journalists gets worse and worse , and the problem is that governments around the world are not interested in finding the perpetrators , '' said Stuart H. Loory , editor of the magazine Global Journalist and the Lee Hills Chair in Free-Press Studies at the Missouri School of Journalism . `` Too often they blame journalists for acting out of line . ''
Committee to Watch Journalists has placed 12 countries on its Impunity Index . Index is a list of countries where journalists have been killed and their killers have not been found . Iraq leads field for the third consecutive year , where all 88 journalist killings remain unsolved . Somalia is second , while Brazil and Colombia each showed third .