RSF warns that the number of journalists killed in 2022 is the highest in the last four years

A total of 1,668 informers have died in the last two decades

Dec. 30 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has warned that the number of journalists killed in 2022 is the highest in the last four years, with a total of 1,668 journalists killed in the last two decades while exercising their profession.

According to the latest figures provided by RSF, 58 journalists have been killed in 2022, an increase of 13.7 percent over the previous year, which resulted in 51 fatalities. In total, an average of 80 informers die each year.

“Behind the figures, hide the faces, personality, talent and commitment of those who have paid with their lives for the search for information, the pursuit of the truth and their passion for journalism”, stressed the secretary RSF general Christophe Deloire in a statement.

Iraq and Syria are the deadliest countries for journalists. They represent 17.9 and 16.17 percent of all total deaths, with 299 and 279 deaths, respectively. Mexico is added to the list of the first three positions, with 125 murders.

The ranking prepared by RSF is completed by the Philippines (107), Pakistan (93), Afghanistan (81), Somalia (78), India (58), Brazil (42), Yemen (40), Colombia (31), the West Bank and Gaza ( 29), Honduras (26), Russia (25) and Bangladesh (24).

Of the 686 homicides perpetrated since 2014, 335 have occurred in conflict zones, such as Syria, Afghanistan or Yemen, with 2012 and 2013 being especially critical, with 144 and 142 murders of journalists, respectively, mainly due to the conflict in Syria.

The NGO highlights, however, that mortality in war zones has stabilized below 20 victims a year, although the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has resulted in the death of eight journalists since February, has once again put the focus on the safety of informers and the lack of freedom of expression in Russia.

In this way, RSF has recalled the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, one of the most uncomfortable and influential voices in Russia, who was shot four times on October 7, 2006. At that time, she was immersed in an investigation into the repression and violence carried out by the Russian Army during the second Chechen war, which dates back to 1999.

RSF alludes precisely to the fact that in the last two decades more journalists have been murdered in “zones at peace” than in “zones at war” due to their investigations into corruption and organized crime, the situation in Latin America and the world being particularly critical. Caribbean, which represents 47.4 percent of the total deaths in 2022.

By country in the region, Mexico alone concentrates 7 percent of the murders committed in 20 years against media professionals. 2022 is the deadliest year for informers in the Latin American country, as reported by MSF in August.

Finally, RSF recalls that, despite the fact that 95 percent of the journalists who have died in the last two decades are men, at least 81 women have been murdered in 20 years, representing 4.86 percent of the total.