A/HRC/17/44 unleashed on you their broadcaster‟s poisoned words and false rumours. They misguided the Libyans with media and false information.”100 138. The Commission has received reports that at least five journalists have been killed, while others have endured harassment, torture and detention incommunicado. In one of the incidents, the Commission received information that, on 12 March, Ali Hassan Al Jaber, a cameraman for the Al-Jazeera television network was killed and his colleague injured in an ambush on the outskirts of Benghazi. The team was on their way back to Benghazi from a trip to Slough where they had been conducting interviews with demonstrators. Two masked assailants opened fire on their car in the middle of the road between Al-Nuwagia and AlHawari. 139. On 20 April, photojournalist and film-maker Tim Hetherington101 and photographer Chris Hondros102 were killed and two other non-Libyan co-workers were injured in what appears to be a mortar attack in the city of Misrata. 103 According to information received, Mr. Hetherington and Mr. Hondros were among other journalists reporting from Tripoli Street in Misrata when the incident occurred. 140. On 5 April on the outskirts of Al-Brega, Anton Hammerl was with three other journalists104 covering the fighting when he was shot and killed by Government forces. One of his colleagues present at the time, James Foley, was quoted in the Globalpost as saying that they witnessed two armoured Libyan military trucks carrying pro-Qadhafi troops who were firing AK-47s over their heads: “We thought we were in the crossfire. But eventually, we realized they were shooting at us. You could see and hear the bullets hitting the ground near us”.105 141. The Commission is aware of reports relating to the detention of four New York Times journalists106 on 15 March who were released on 21 March into the custody of Turkish diplomats. The New York Times has reported that its personnel were handcuffed, blindfolded and beaten, and the female reporter was sexually assaulted while in captivity.107 The female staff member reported that “There was a lot of groping. Every man who came in contact with us basically felt every inch of my body short of what was under my 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 Alarabiya TV website, 24 February 2011, available from www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/24/139040.html, and Committee to Protect Journalists, “Journalists under attack in Libya: The tally”. Tim Hetherington, 40, was a seasoned photojournalist who contributed photographs to American magazine Vanity Fair. He directed Restrepo, an acclaimed 2010 documentary film about fighting in Afghanistan, which was nominated for an Oscar. Chris Hondros, 41, award winning American war photographer worked for Getty Images. Human Rights Watch, “Journalists killed in Libya”, 20 April 2011, available from www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/20/libya-journalists-killed-misrata, and UNESCO, “Director-General deplores death of photojournalists Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros in Libya”, 22 April 2011, available from www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/. Manuel Varela de Seijas Brabo (Spanish freelance photographer on contract with the European Press Photo Agency); James Foley (American citizen, working for the Global Post); and Morgana Gillis (American freelancer for Christian Science Monitor, the Atlantic and USA Today. They were all released on 18 May 2011. John Jensen, “Reporter release tempered by news of colleagues death”, Globalpost, 19 May 2011. Available from www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/110519/libya-journalist-deathanton-hammerl-james-foley-clare-gillis. In this as in most of the cases reported in this section, the details of the events have been included in many news reports. The journalists are Anthony Shadid (the New York Times Beirut bureau chief), Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario (photographers), and Stephen Farrell (reporter and videographer). Jeremy W. Peters, “Freed times journalists give account of captivity”, The New York Times, 21 March 2011, available from www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/world/africa/22times.html?pagewanted=1. 39