Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has warned that the number of journalists killed in 2022 is the highest in the last four years, with a total of 1,668 reporters killed in the last two decades while exercising their profession.
According to the latest figures provided by RSF, 58 journalists have been killed in 2022, an increase of 13.7 percent over the previous year, which saw 51 fatalities. In total, an average of 80 journalists are killed annually.
«Behind the numbers, there are the faces, the personalities, the talent and the commitment of those who have paid with their lives for the search for information, the pursuit of truth and their passion for journalism,» stressed RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire in a statement.
Iraq and Syria are the deadliest countries for journalists. They account for 17.9 percent and 16.17 percent of all deaths, with 299 and 279 deaths, respectively. Adding to the top three list is Mexico, with 125 killings.
Rounding out the ranking prepared by RSF are the Philippines (107), Pakistan (93), Afghanistan (81), Somalia (78), India (58), Brazil (42), Yemen (40), Colombia (31), West Bank and Gaza (29), Honduras (26), Russia (25) and Bangladesh (24).
Of the 686 homicides perpetrated since 2014, 335 have occurred in conflict zones, such as in Syria, Afghanistan or Yemen, with the years 2012 and 2013 being particularly critical, with 144 and 142 murders of journalists, respectively, mainly due to the conflict in Syria.
The NGO highlights, however, that mortality in war zones has stabilized below 20 victims per year, although the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has resulted in the death of eight journalists since February, has once again put the spotlight on the safety of reporters and the lack of freedom of expression in Russia.
In doing so, RSF recalled the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, one of Russia’s most uncomfortable and influential voices, who was shot four times on October 7, 2006. At the time, she was investigating the repression and violence committed by the Russian army during the second Chechen war, which dates back to 1999.
RSF alludes precisely to the fact that in the last two decades there have been more journalists murdered in «peace zones» than in «war zones» due to their investigations on corruption and organized crime, being particularly critical the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean, which represents 47.4 percent of the total number of deaths in 2022.
By country in the region, Mexico alone concentrates 7 percent of the murders committed in 20 years against media professionals. 2022 is the deadliest year for reporters in the Latin American country, MSF reported in August.
Finally, RSF recalls that, despite the fact that 95 percent of the journalists who have died in the last two decades are men, at least 81 women have been killed in 20 years, which represents 4.86 percent of the total.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
