Harry Burton (23 January 1968 – 19 November 2001) was an Australian journalist and cameraman who was kidnapped by the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
on the highway to Kabul, Afghanistan and then murdered. Three other journalists suffered the same fate.
Burton, 33 years old when he was killed, was a latecomer to journalism and quit his job three years earlier in Melbourne to get involved in the profession. A scholarship fund was set up in his name by the
Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club
The Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club (JFCC) is a non-profit organization for international journalists in Indonesia.
The group has more than 250 members and 50 foreign media organization[1] Its members include foreign journalists, Indonesi ...
to support training for reporters from remote parts of Indonesia, particularly camera operators.
Biography
Burton was born in Brisbane and studied agricultural sciences at what was Dookie Agricultural College later to become part of the University of Melbourne.
He had worked in Indonesia earlier in 2001 covering the Free Aceh Movement and the conflict in East Timor for the Reuters agency. He decided to go to Jakarta without any previous experience and try his hand at becoming a photo journalist. Prior to that he worked as a Quality Manager for
Coles Myer
Coles Group Limited is an Australian public company operating several retail chains. Its chief operations are primarily concerned with the sale of food and groceries through its flagship supermarket chain Coles Supermarkets, and the sale of li ...
. His breakthrough came in his coverage of the final months of the
Indonesian occupation of East Timor that August. He ran the Reuters television bureau in
Dili
Dili (Portuguese/Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in ...
after the former Portuguese colony voted for independence.
He was one of 19 journalists briefly detained in the
Fiji coup of 2000. After his release he was made a full-time cameraman by Reuters in January 2000.
Death
Burton moved to Afghanistan to cover the ongoing conflict there, working for Reuters at the time. In November of that year he was riding in a Jeep from
Jalalabad
Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلالآباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...
to
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
, just a few days after the Taliban fell, when his convoy was stopped and passengers ordered to get out. He was killed with three other journalists,
Julio Fuentes of the Spanish paper ''
El Mundo'',
Azizullah Haidari of Reuters, and
Maria Grazia Cutuli of
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
's ''
Corriere della Sera
The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015.
First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of It ...
''. Their mutilated bodies were found on 19 November. Burton was buried in
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
on 28 November 2001.
Murder trial
A Kabul court sentenced three men to death for these murders in 2004 and 2005 respectively. Two brothers, Mahmood Zar Jan and Abdul Wahid, were sentenced in 2005 and another,
Reza Khan
,
, spouse = Maryam Savadkoohi Tadj ol-Molouk Ayromlu (queen consort)Turan AmirsoleimaniEsmat Dowlatshahi
, issue = Princess Hamdamsaltaneh Princess ShamsMohammad Reza Shah Princess Ashraf Prince Ali Reza Prince Gholam Reza Prin ...
, was sentenced to death on 20 November 2004.
Family
Burton's girlfriend was Joanne Collins, who is also a journalist. Burton's father, also called Harry, is a scientist, and his mother, Anne (who predeceased her son) was a social worker. He had four sisters and three brothers.
Harry Burton senior was a judge for the
ADF photography award named in his son's honour.
[Rodgers, Sgt. Troy]
The Harry Burton Memorial Award
Australian Department of Defense
Defence Australia is a department of the Government of Australia charged with the responsibility to defend Australia and its national interests. Along with the Australian Defence Force (ADF), it forms part of the Australian Defence Organisati ...
See also
*
List of journalists killed during the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Harry
1968 births
2001 deaths
Assassinated Australian journalists
Journalists killed while covering the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
University of Melbourne alumni
Australian people murdered abroad
20th-century Australian journalists