Violence Against Journalists Remains Rife – Reporters Without Borders

World | December 16, 2014, Tuesday // 12:08
Bulgaria: Violence Against Journalists Remains Rife – Reporters Without Borders File photo

Reporters Without Borders (RWB) released its annual report on abuses of journalists in 2014 on Tuesday.

The report shows that the number of journalists killed on duty in 2014 was 66, which is a decrease of 7 % from the 2013 figure.

This brings the number of journalists killed in connection with their work in the last ten years to a total of 720.

Although there have been less deaths, the past year has seen an increase in the number of journalists kidnapped.

In 2014 a total of 119 journalists were kidnapped, which represents an increase of 35 % compared to last year.

Forty journalists are still held hostages, while 178 journalists were imprisoned this year.

In 2014 the number of arrested journalists was 853, while a total of 1846 journalists were threatened or attacked.

RWB records an evolution in the nature of violence against journalists – beheadings and carefully-staged threats are increasingly used.

The perpetrators of crimes against journalists are becoming more violent in preventing independent news coverage.

As a result twice as many journalists have fled their country into exile this year when compared to 2013, numbering 139 in 2014.

RWB has been publishing its report since 1995 with information being carefully collected in the span of the monitoring.

Syria remains the deadliest country for journalists, with Palestine, Ukraine, Iraq and Libya completing the top five list.

One positive development is that fewer journalists have been killed in countries at peace, such as in India and the Philippines.

The number of female journalists killed has doubled from three in 2013 to 6 this year.

Most journalists were kidnapped in Ukraine, followed by Libya, Syria, Iraq and Mexico.

The main reasons for the sharp increase in the number of kidnapped journalists has been the offensive of Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria, the clashes between rival militias in Libya and the conflict which continues in eastern Ukraine despite the ceasefire announced in September.

The five most dangerous areas for journalists are IS-controlled territories in Iraq and Syria, eastern Libya, Balochistan province in Pakistan, the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine, and the department of Antioquia in Colombia.

The biggest prison for journalists is China, followed by Eritrea, Iran, Egypt and Syria.

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Tags: Reporters without Borders, journalists, violence, abuses, deaths, killing, kidnapping, RWB, IS, Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Libya, China, Palestine

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