NEWS- The United Nations has revealed that the killing of journalists worldwide surged in 2022-23 compared with the previous two years, with a majority of cases unsolved.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), issued a latest report saying that 162 journalists have been while at work which 38 percent increase from last two years which is “alarming”.
UNESCO Director-General Dr Audrey Azoulay said in a statement that in 2022 and 2023, one journalist was killed every four days simply for doing their vital job to pursue truth and urged countries to “do more to ensure that these crimes never go unpunished”.
Dr Audrey Azoulay was speaking at the UN-recognised International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists and said that the largest number of killings was in Latin America and the Caribbean, at 61 over the two years, while the least deadly global region for journalists was North America and Western Europe with 6 killings.
For the first time since 2017, a majority of journalists were killed in conflict zones in 2023, with 44 deaths accounting for 59 percent of the year’s total which is a shift from a years-long decline in conflict-related fatalities, and during the 2022-23 period, local journalists made up 86% of those killed while covering conflicts and in 2023, Palestine recorded the highest number of cases, with 24 journalists dying in the line of work.
While the report does not include deaths in 2024, since October last year, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said that the number of journalists killed in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon has jumped to more than 135 and more Journalists have faced unprecedented danger while covering Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
Israeli authorities have repeatedly killed and threatened Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza, whom they accused of being Hamas affiliates, but Al Jazeera network has denied and condemned the claims, but this week, the Al Jazeera Media Network condemned the “systematic targeting” of journalists in the Palestinian territory and the region, saying the attacks “constitute a calculated campaign to silence those who dare to document the realities of war and devastation”.
The UNESCO report said other media workers were targeted for covering organised crime, corruption or while reporting on public demonstrations and among the journalists killed in 2022-23, 14 were women constituting 9%.
The report highlighted the impunity around the killing of journalists, as 85% of cases identified by UNESCO since 2006 are still unsolved or have been abandoned, according to responses individual countries sent the body, but this marked some improvement on the 89% non-resolution rate in 2018 and 95% in 2012, but of 75 countries, UNESCO contacted for updates on open cases, 17 did not respond at all and 9 did no more than acknowledge the request.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has since called on governments to “take urgent steps” to protect journalists, and investigate and prosecute crimes against media workers worldwide, saying that “Impunity breeds further violence”.
Additional Reporting from Al Jazeera.
