In 2023, 45 journalists died in the world in the exercise of their profession, the lowest figure since 2002 due largely to the reduction in murders andn Latin Americaa, despite the fact that the conflict between Israel and Hamas was especially deadly, according to RSF.
According to figures compiled by the organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) until December 1, “a total of 45 journalists were murdered in the exercise of their profession, 16 less than last year.”
This is the lowest figure since 2002 when 33 reporters died, a third of them while working on the conflict in Middle East.
The 2023 figures highlight the “significant decrease” in the number of deaths in Latin Americawith six journalists murdered compared to 26 in 2022, the organization indicated.
Mexico, the deadliest place for the profession after the Gaza Strip, recorded four journalists killed in 2023, compared to 11 the previous year, although this decrease does not reflect greater security for the press, RSF noted.
'Self-censorship' in Latin America
“Although the number of journalists murdered in Latin America has fallen significantly (…) information professionals still do not work safely, as demonstrated by the recent kidnappings and armed attacks that occurred in Mexico,” the organization highlighted.
He added that “the record of violent incidents registered in 2022 in Latin America encourages journalists to self-censor.”which translates into the proliferation of information black holes in the region, where organized crime and corruption top the list of topics for which journalists risk their lives.
Besides, The NGO pointed out that of a total of 84 journalists reported missing in the world, almost one in three is Mexican.
In total, Latin America accounts for more than half of the missing journalists in the world, with 43.
High death toll in Gaza
In Gaza, “journalists are paying a high cost among the civilian population. We note that the number of journalists killed in the exercise of their work is very high: 13 in a tiny territory,” said RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire.
“We have filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to establish the reality of the events and the extent to which journalists have been deliberately targeted,” he said.
RSF highlighted that this year 23 journalists have been murdered in the exercise of their profession in conflicts and that it is the first time in five years that more journalists have died in wars than in peace zones.
“The vast majority, 17, were killed in the course of the war between Israel and Hamas,” of whom 13 died in Gaza,” the report noted.
The conflict in Ukraine claimed the lives of two journalists in 2023, including AFP reporter Arman Soldin (who died in early May), bringing the total number of journalists killed since the Russian invasion in February 2022 to 11.
The organization highlighted that the causes of the decrease in the total number of deaths are multiple and “debatable.”
“The work of intergovernmental organizations, NGOs and the media themselves” or “greater caution?” RSF stated in the report.
The count “does not include journalists killed outside the exercise of their duties, those who were not killed or those whose deaths remain unknown,” RSF clarified.
AFP
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