The murders of journalists around the world still go unpunished in the vast majority of cases, Unesco deplored on Wednesday, November 2, calling on world leaders to take measures to strengthen the means of investigation and condemn the perpetrators. “According to new data from Unesco, the global impunity rate for the murders of journalists stands at 86%”, a drop of 9 points over the last ten years, pointed out in a report this UN agency responsible for culture, education, arts and science. This decrease is nonetheless “very insufficient to stem the spiral of violence”warned Unesco.
Over the period 2020-2021, 117 journalists were killed because of their job, the lowest figure since the first publication in 2008 of this report by Unesco. The organization points out, however, that for the year 2022, 66 journalists had already been murdered by September 30. Over the past two years, the deadliest regions for journalists have been Latin America and the Caribbean, and to a lesser extent Asia-Pacific. Conversely, in 2020, no journalist murders were recorded in Central and Eastern Europe, a first since 2007.
Paradoxically, only 36% of journalists were killed in countries experiencing armed conflict in 2021, while 64% of journalist murders occurred in countries not facing this type of conflict. On the other hand, the report notes an increase in the number of journalists killed during riots or demonstrations: six for the period 2020-2021 against three for the period 2016-2017.
No safe place
Unesco points to the fact that there is no safe place for journalists: of the 117 killed in 2020-2021, 91 of them (almost eight out of ten) were killed outside working hours work, at home, in their vehicle or on the street for example, and not within the framework of a specific mission. Several were killed in front of their family members, including their children. In addition, the share of women among journalists killed almost doubled in 2021, rising to 11% from 6% the previous year.
Faced with this observation, Unesco renews its call to take all necessary measures to ensure that crimes committed against journalists are properly investigated and that their perpetrators are identified and condemned.