Arabic English

UNESCO: 2024 deadliest year for journalists

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced that at least 68 journalists and media workers were killed while performing their duties in 2024.

The organization's report confirmed that more than 60% of the journalists and media professionals killed were working in countries experiencing conflicts, noting that this is the highest percentage in more than ten years. The Israeli war on Palestinian journalists has witnessed a worrying escalation in recent years, as journalists in Palestine face serious challenges while practicing their profession.

These challenges include arbitrary arrest and ongoing harassment by Israeli forces, in addition to threats of violence and intimidation. The Israeli occupation authorities are increasingly targeting journalists who seek to document human rights violations and political events in the occupied Palestinian territories. This attack on press freedom is a flagrant violation of human rights and international laws. The international community must intervene to protect journalists and ensure their freedom to carry out their duties without threat or violence. The Government Media Office in the Gaza Strip announced that the number of martyred journalists has risen to 201, male and female, since the beginning of the brutal aggression on Gaza, which has been ongoing since October 7, 2023, in a flagrant violation of international law, to silence the free media and prevent it from conveying the truth to the world. Protection of journalists According to the UNESCO report, out of 42 deaths in countries facing conflicts, 18 of these deaths occurred in Palestine, four in Ukraine, four in Colombia, three each in Iraq, Lebanon, Myanmar, and Sudan, and one each in Syria, Chad, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay stressed that reliable information is vital in conflict situations and it is unacceptable that journalists pay with their lives for their work. Azoulay called on all countries to intensify efforts and ensure the protection of media workers, in accordance with international law. freedom of the press UNESCO awarded its 2024 Press Freedom Prize to all journalists in the Gaza Strip. The award was received by the head of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, Nasser Abu Bakr, at a ceremony held on the sidelines of the World Press Freedom Conference in the Chilean capital, Santiago.

The international jury said: The award is a message of solidarity with Palestinian journalists who cover the Israeli war on Gaza in tragic circumstances. The head of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said: The award is a strong message that justice for journalists will be achieved, and that the United Nations organizations have begun to play their role in doing justice to journalists to achieve international law on the protection of the media and journalists. He also stressed the need to proceed with the procedures to prosecute the perpetrators of crimes against Palestinian journalists. He called on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to expedite the procedures in this regard. Security decline In early November 2024, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) issued its annual report on the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, documenting an increase in the number of journalists who lost their lives while performing their journalistic duties in recent years. Statistics indicated that one journalist was killed every 4 days around the world over the past two years. The organization said that the rate of journalist murders increased by about 38% compared to the previous report, which represents the deepest decline in journalist safety in years. According to the report, 162 confirmed cases of journalist murders were recorded during 2022 and 2023, more than half of which were in countries experiencing armed conflicts.

The report explained that most of the journalists who were killed in countries not witnessing direct conflicts were killed while covering issues of organized crime and corruption, or while covering protests, which reflects the widening circle of risks surrounding media workers.