2003-2022: 2 deadly decades for journos, 1,700 killed, says report

Paris: An analysis report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) inferred that with an average of 80 plus journalists a year, 1,700 journalists were killed across the world in the past 20 years, Agence France-Presse reported.

The period from 2003 to 2022 was particularly deadly for journalists or “those in service of the right to inform”, the report said.

Secretary-general of RSF, the Paris-based media rights campaigners Christophe Deloire, said that behind the said figures, there are faces, personalities, talent and commitment of those who paid with their lives to gather information, to search for truth and for their passion towards journalism.

Based on countries, Iraq and Syria were the most dangerous for journalists to work, and a total of 578 were killed there in the past 20 years. The count is more than one-third of the total.

Further, Mexic-o followed them win 125 killings, the Philippines with 107, Pakistan with 93, Afghanistan with 81 and Somalia with 78.

The report states that the deadliest years were 2012 and 2013. 144 were killed in 2013 and 142 the next year due to the war situation in Syria. However, it fell gradually and reached historic lows since 2019.

However, in 2022 the number of deaths increased, and the same was to an extent influenced by the Ukraine war. So far, 58 journalists have been killed, from 51 in 2021.

While 12 dead in 19 years before 2022 in Ukraine, eight dead in 2022 alone. The country is dangerous for journalists at the moment were Russia, which killed 25 journalists in the last 20 years, opened its offensive.

After Vladimir Putin took power in Russia, press freedom has got systematically suppressed with even deadly attacks. The high-profile murder of Anna Politkovskaya in 2006 was prominent among them.

Turkey is the third most dangerous country in Europe and France follows.

Reporters are at great risk in places where armed conflicts are going on. But those countries where no war is officially taking place do not necessarily need to be safe for journalists, RSF said.

The American countries contributed to half of the journalist murders in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Honduras, AFP reported.