One Journalist Killed Every Five Days, UNESCO Report Says

Berlin, 03 Safar 1438/03 November 2016 (MINA) – One journalist is being killed every five days as a result of their work, according to figures released in a UNESCO report on Wednesday, coinciding with the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, DPA reported.

At least 827 journalists were killed between 2006 and 2015, 115 of which were killed last year, making 2015 the second deadliest year in journalism in the last decade, according to the report.

Less than one in 10 of all deaths have been solved, UNESCO said, despite many countries named in the report showing a willingness to stop the murder of journalists.

The UN body, which limited its 2016 report on the safety of journalists to killings in the past 10 years, said it did not cover “the numerous other violations endured by journalists, which included kidnappings, arbitrary detention, torture, intimidation and harassment, both offline and online.”

Of the 213 journalists killed between 2014 and 2015, 78 were murdered in Arab states, according to the UNESCO figures, making the Arab world the most dangerous region for journalists, largely due to the ongoing conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya.

In the same period, 51 journalists were killed in Latin American and the Caribbean, 34 in Asia, 27 in Africa and 12 in Central and Eastern Europe.

Almost half of the online journalists killed in the past two years were web reporters and bloggers covering the conflict in Syria.

There was a significant rise in the deaths of reporters for websites and television in 2015, the report said.(T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)