RBG: In 1967, 65 journalists were killed, in prisons - 326

Baku / 20.12.17 / Turan: International organization in defense of the press "Reporters without Borders" (RBG) published a report on repressions against journalists around the world in the past year. According to the RBG, in 2017 65 journalists were killed, 326 are currently in custody, 54 are still hostage. 60 percent of the dead journalists were victims of deliberate murders.

At the same time, RBG notes that 2017 was the least deadly for professional journalists (50 people) over the past 14 years. Since 2012, there has been a steady decline in the death toll. Of course, journalists leave countries that are becoming too dangerous, such as Syria, Yemen or Libya. But RBG also notes a growing awareness of the importance of protecting journalists. Since 2006, the UN has adopted several resolutions on this topic, and many editions have adopted security standards.

This decrease does not concern the number of women journalists killed. Over the past year, there have been twice as many: ten women died in all, compared to five in 2016. Most of them had one thing in common: they were experienced and possessing a fighting spirit. Despite the threats, they continued their investigations and uncovered examples of corruption, brutal extremism or drug trafficking, as did Daphne Caruana Galicia in Malta, Gauri Lankesh in India or Miroslava Bric Veldusea in Mexico.

It should be noted one more trend in 2017. Some peaceful countries are becoming almost as dangerous for journalists as the zones where military operations are taking place. Of the journalists killed, 46% were in countries where declared military conflicts were not conducted compared to 30% in 2016. Now in Mexico there are almost as many dead (11), as the most deadly country for reporters - Syria (12 dead).

"Investigative journalists dealing with important subjects, such as corruption or environmental scandals, play a significant role as a counterweight to the authorities and because of this they are cowardly killed y those who are interfered with by their investigations," RBG Secretary General Christoph Deloir said bitterly. "Investigating in some countries at peace becomes as dangerous as reporting on armed conflict. This alarming situation further recalls the need to protect journalists."

As of December 1, 2017, 326 journalists were behind bars because of their professional activities. This number in the current year has slightly decreased (-6%). But, despite the fact that there is a general tendency to decline, in some countries there is an extraordinary number of imprisoned journalists. An example of this, in particular, is Russia and Morocco. At the same time, about half of journalists worldwide are journalists in only five countries. And the biggest jails for journalists are still China and Turkey. Further - Syria, Iran and Vietnam.

Finally, 54 journalists are currently being held by non-state armed groups. Such as the Islamic state or the Husit in Yemen. About three quarters of the hostages are local journalists who work in dangerous and unreliable conditions. All foreign journalists, who are currently hostages, were kidnapped in Syria. However, it is impossible to determine where they are now.-06D--