The organization representing journalists worldwide has expressed deep concern over the number of media professionals killed worldwide in the course of their duties by 2023.
That’s more than the 67 deaths recorded during the same period in 2022, including 12 killed in the Ukraine-Russia war, and a total of 47 in 2021.
The group called for better protection of media workers and accountability for perpetrators.
“The imperative for a new global standard for the protection of journalists and effective international enforcement has never been greater,” said IFJ president Dominique Pratali, as quoted by the North American agency AP.
The war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which began on October 7, has killed 68 journalists, more than one per day, according to the IFJ.
This figure accounts for 72% of all media deaths this year worldwide.
Most of those killed were Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces are continuing an offensive that began after a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
“The war in Gaza has been more dangerous for journalists than any other conflict since the IJF began recording journalists killed on the job in 1990,” the organization said.
He noted that the deaths in Gaza were “on an unprecedented scale and at a rate of loss of life among media professionals”.
Ukraine remains a “dangerous country for journalists” almost two years after the Russian invasion.
According to the IFJ, three reporters or media workers have been killed in Russia’s war against Ukraine since the beginning of the year.
The Brussels-based organization mourned the deaths of journalists in Afghanistan, the Philippines, India, China and Bangladesh.
Expressing concern over the impunity for crimes against media workers, he called on governments to “fully clarify these killings and take measures to guarantee the safety of journalists”.
The number of journalists killed in North and South America has dropped from 29 last year to 7 so far in 2023, according to the IFJ.
The group said three Mexicans, a Paraguayan, a Guatemalan, a Colombian and an American were killed while investigating armed groups or fraud of public funds.
In Africa, the organization condemned “four particularly shocking killings”, including two in Cameroon, one in Sudan and another in Lesotho, which “have not yet been fully investigated”.
And 393 media workers have been detained so far this year, according to the IFJ, 80 of them in China and Hong Kong.
Other countries stand out, such as Myanmar (formerly Burma, 54), Turkey (41), Russia and occupied Crimea (40), Belarus (35) or Egypt (23).
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