New project at TBIJ: Naming the dead

First published 5th Feb 2013

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), member of the International Practitioners Network, has launched today a new large scale investigation which will seek to identify by name every person killed by U.S drone strikes in Northern Pakistan.

TBIJ has already identified by name a small proportion of people killed by drone strikes in the tribal regions of Northern Pakistan. However at least 2000 people still remain publicly anonymous.

These names are most known by families of the dead in tribal communities but often remain a secret for fear of reprisals. The names may also be known by the U.S government who, since the start of the strikes, refuse to release any information.

Commenting on this issue, is the Managing Editor for TBIJ, Christopher Hird.

"In the face of official secrecy, having the full facts about who is killed is essential for an informed debate about the effectiveness and ethics of the drone campaign"

Although the project has secured a large portion of funding from a UK foundation it is now seeking the rest of the funding through the press freedom foundation, a US based foundation,who has endorsed the project and facilitates crowd funding for this and other projects.

If you would like to donate to the project please visit

https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/.

To know more about the about why it is important to identify by name, victims of drone strikes please see an analysis of the issue by TBIJ.