The new publication of the IFJ revealed alarming data presented with a total of 47 reporters who were killed during the year 2021the lowest figure since 1990, in addition to 365 incarcerations over the same period of time.
The number of murders, even being lower than other years, should serve as a “wake-up call” to address the security of information professionals.
The IFJ report, published this Wednesdayrecounts the circumstances of these murders and also denounces the important increase in imprisonment of journalists for his informative work, with 365 imprisoned reporters compared to 235 registered in 2020in many cases “simply for covering protests or trying to report on the coronavirus crisis.”
The data consistently point, says the report, to journalists are more often killed for covering local and regional issues than for moving to conflict regions, for which they call for more efforts at the national level “to ensure accountability through independent instructions and investigations.”
(You can also read: Since 2021, the Ombudsman registers 89 complaints of violations of journalists)
Furthermore, except few exceptions where murders are investigated and those responsible are held accountable, “the culture of impunity continues to protect perpetrators and masterminds of responsibility for these murders, denying the victims justice and fueling more violence against the media,” the text warns.
The Federation especially highlights the case of Afghanistan, at the head of the most dangerous countries in the world to practice journalism with nine murders last year and the place where the largest forced displacement of information professionals was seen after the fall of the Government and the return of the Taliban, “who had never concealed their intolerance towards journalists.”
In particular, the report denounces, lJournalists “are the ones who have had to fear the most” as a result of extremist norms based on the denial of rights to women. In the chapter dedicated to Africa, a continent where nine journalists died “with impunity”, the report recalls the Spaniards David Beriain and Roberto Fraile, killed in a jihadist attack in Burkina Faso in April while recording a documentary on poaching.
(It may interest you: 81% of the murders of journalists in the past decade remain unpunished)
In the American continent, on the other hand, there were ten murders of journalists; in Mexico, where eight of them took place, the “structural violence” against journalists is “far from being resolved”. “This year has once again shown the duration of this crisis in many parts of the world, where journalism continues to be a death sentence to silence independent reporting,” the text points out.
In addition to the arrests and murders, the IFJ also denounces the emergence of a new threat to press freedom with the use of spy software such as Pegasus, created by the Israeli company NSO Group, to infiltrate the mobile phones of journalists, human rights defenders and opposition politicians.
“With its ability to eavesdrop on phone conversations, access contacts and emails without raising a single suspicion from the owner, Pegasus has shattered the security of most handheld devices. The confidentiality of sources and the privacy of journalists’ personal communications can no longer be taken for granted,” warns the IFJ.
(Related to the topic: 2021 leaves 60 journalists imprisoned and 65 kidnapped in the world)
And in the case of Colombia?
In Colombia, on the other hand, violence and aggression increased in 2021, especially during protests against the government, as revealed on Wednesday by the Foundation for Press Freedom (Flip). The NGO indicated that the public force was the “maximum aggressor” against the communicators.
According to Flip figures, 768 journalists suffered some type of aggression last year.
According to the NGO, “93 percent of the physical attacks on the press occurred during the coverage of the days of the demonstrations. (…) The journalists were pushed, beaten with fists, stones, shields, and kicked, and even some They were stabbed.”
The study “Pages for freedom of expression” indicates that the main violations of press freedom in 2021 were threats (172 cases compared to 152 in 2020), physical attacks (168 compared to 30), obstructions to access to information (43 versus 31) and harassment (65 versus 40).
EFE
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