Mexico and Afghanistan continue to top the list of countries where it is most dangerous to practice the profession.
A total of 488 journalists are detained worldwide, an increase of 20% compared to 2020, while Mexico and Afghanistan continue to top the list of countries where it is most dangerous to exercise the profession, according to the annual report of Reporters Without Borders, published this Thursday.
“Never since the creation of RSF’s annual balance in 1995 has the number of jailed journalists been so high,” explains the statement from the Paris-based organization, which also highlights that of the total, 60 are women, another record.
But nevertheless, the number of journalists killed has dropped this year, largely thanks to the partial end of armed conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan or Yemen.
As of December 1, 2021, 46 journalists had died. “You have to go back to 2003 to find a death toll of less than 50,” the text explains.
Thirty journalists were deliberately murdered, seven of them in Mexico, the most dangerous country for the third year in a row.
In Mexico, 47 reporters have been assassinated in the last five years.
“Fueled by almost total impunity, and in the absence of courageous reforms by successive governments (…), the spiral of violence seems endless,” the report denounces.
In Afghanistan, six journalists were killed during the year in attacks and bombings. The Asian country, torn apart by decades of violence, has the same number of deaths as Mexico in the last five years, 47.
In addition to the 488 journalists officially behind bars, another 65 are kidnapped.
The 20% increase in jailed journalists is due in particular to the crackdown on freedom to report in three countries: Burma, where a military junta seized power in February; Belarus, which experienced a controversial presidential re-election in August, and China, whose communist regime has taken full control of Hong Kong.
A court in the former British colony ordered the liquidation of the newspaper’s parent company on Wednesday Apple Daly, a pro-democracy newspaper.
Apple Daily It closed this year after its assets were frozen under a national security law that China imposed on Hong Kong to stifle dissent.
Compared to 2020, the number of incarcerated female informants has increased by a third. The case of Zhang Zhan, a Chinese journalist, in critical condition stands out.
In Belarus, more women (17) than men (15) were arrested this year, including Daria Chultsova and Katsiarina Andreyeva, sentenced to two years in a penal colony for having broadcast an unauthorized demonstration live on a television station.
Regarding kidnappings, the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS) maintains 28 journalists, 43% of the world total, despite the fact that the group was officially defeated in 2017. To date, the families of these reporters they still don’t know if they are alive or dead.
Two Mexican informants, Jorge Molotzín Cential and Pablo Felipe Romero, disappeared on March 10 and 25, respectively, in the state of Sonora, which borders the United States, RSF recalls. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
