Face2News/Geneva  

A record number of media workers were killed last year, deplored the global media safety and rights body Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), citing that at least 179 of them lost their lives in 25 countries around the world in 2024.

Updating its annual report, the PEC stated that almost three quarters of the victim journalists were murdered in conflict zones. December was a particularly dramatic month with 20 more journo-victims. The increase in 2024 compared with 2023 (140 media casualties) according to the same criteria is 28%, added the PEC statement adding that 116 media workers were killed in 2022, followed by 79 in 2021, 92 in 2020, 75 in 2019, etc.

Conflicts in the Middle East are responsible for more than half of the victims. They have claimed the lives of 91 journalists: at least 80 in the Gaza Strip, 6 in Lebanon, 4 in Syria and 1 in the West Bank. In total, the hostilities in Gaza since 7 October 2023 have killed at least 161 media workers, an unprecedented toll for a conflict in such a short space of time.

In 2024, the war in Ukraine resulted in the deaths of 19 Ukrainian journalists (most of whom had joined the army) plus one foreigner (Ryan Evans of Reuters in Kramatorsk). To this must be added the death in custody in Russia on 10 October of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Rochtchina, making a total of 21 victims.

Outside the Middle East and Ukraine, Pakistan had the highest number of journalists killed, 12 since 1 January, a clear deterioration. Russia has 7 journalists killed (including three in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia and one in Kursk). In Bangladesh, unrest in July left 7 journalists dead. The situation remains very dangerous in Mexico, where 7 journalists have been killed. Hostilities in Sudan caused the death of 6 journalists. In Colombia, 4 media workers were killed, where 4 killed in India, 3 in Iraq and 3 in Myanmar (Burma).

Two people were killed in Somalia, two in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and two in Haiti. Cambodia, Chad, Ecuador, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, Nepal and the Philippines, followed with one fatality in each country.

In ten years, the PEC has counted 1,159 victims, an average of 2.25 per week. Over the last five years, the most dangerous countries have been Gaza/West Bank (166), Ukraine (59), Mexico (55), Pakistan (36) and India (32). By continent in 2024, the Middle East had the highest number of victims (92: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria , West Bank and Iraq), ahead of Asia (31). Europe follows (28: Ukraine and Russia), ahead of Latin America (17) and Africa (11). In addition to the Middle East, there has been a deterioration in Asia from one year to the next (31 deaths compared with 12).

On the positive side, there were fewer victims in Latin America in 2024 than in 2023 (16 compared with 20). “We condemn all these crimes, committed in violation of international law and national legislation. Independent investigations are essential to clarify the circumstances and prosecute those responsible in order to combat impunity.

This very heavy death toll, the heaviest since the beginning of the century, reinforces the need for an international instrument which clarifies the conditions for the protection of the profession of journalism in conflict zones”, said Blaise Lempen, president of PEC (pressemblem.ch), adding that the PEC will continue to work on this without interruption. Unlike other organizations, the PEC includes in its statistics all journalists killed, whether or not their deaths were related to their professional activity as it’s very difficult to prove that a crime was committed in connection with a journalist's work without a full and independent investigation, which is often lacking.

PEC’s south & southeast Asian representative Nava Thakuria revealed Pakistan witnessed the murder of Jam Saghir Ahmed Lar, Tahira Nosheen Rana, Muhammad Siddiq Mengel, Mehar Ashfaq Siyal, Kamran Dawar, Nasrullah Gadani, Khalil Jibran, Hasan Zaib, Muhammad Bachal Ghunio, Nisar Lehri, Janan Hussain and Malik Zafar Iqbal.

Bangladesh lost Hasan Mehedi, Shakil Hossain, Abu Taher Md Turab, Tahir Zaman Priyo, Pradip Kumar Bhowmik, Tanjil Jahan Islam Tamim and Swapan Kumar Bhadra to assailants. India recorded the murders of Ashutosh Srivastava, Shivshankar Jha, Salman Ali Khan and Dilip Saini. The atrocious military rulers of Burma/Brahmadesh perpetrated the untimely deaths of Ko Myat Thu Tun, Htet Myat Thu and Win Htut Oo.

On the other hand, Nepal recorded the killing of Suresh Bhul, Indonesia lost Sempurna Pasaribu and the Philippines Maria Vilma Rodriguez to assailants in the bygone year. In 2023, both Pakistan and India recorded 3 journo-murders, followed by Afghanistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines (2 casualties each).