In the line of fire

Every year for the last decade, the risk that journalists take to tell the truth becomes more concrete when the list of the most dangerous countries for journalists is issued. The Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) has been tasked with compiling the murders of journalists working throughout the world. With the year coming to a close, 97 of our fellow journalists have been killed in 27 countries in the world. The murder by remote bomb of a journalist in Malta who was reporting on the Paradise Papers got global attention, but there are also the stories of the 96 other journalists who were killed for telling truth to power. There are hundreds more journalists who were cowered into silence. The media is supposed to act as a neutral actor in conflict situations, but it is often the sheer power of neutral truth being reported that can destabilise the grip of those in power or raise the ire of groups that operate outside the law. This year, Mexico became the country with the most murdered journalists – 14.

There has been a sizeable decrease in the number of journalists killed in some of the other major conflict zones, including Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. However, it is still five countries – Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Iraq and Mexico – that have over half of the global casualties of journalists. Pakistan and India join each other at an unenviable fourth place with seven journalists killed each. There is no doubt that the increasing atmosphere of fear and panic being peddled in both countries has had a part to play in this. Iraq is where some of the most significant improvement has been seen but in all likelihood that is due to larger changes in the conflict situation in the country. In reality, none of these countries has taken any significant measures to protect journalists. If we tabulate the figures, we get shocking numbers. In the last 12 years, 1408 journalists have been killed. The number of female journalists killed has also jumped up from 5 to 16 in one year. The adoption of resolutions in the UN Security Council for the safety of journalists is one thing. Taking the countries that fail to protect journalists to task is another. Most murders go unsolved and unpunished. This is what needs to change.