PARIS: About fifty journalists and media workers were killed in connection with their work in 2020, however, the majority of killings were in countries that are not at war, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
The total number of journalists killed in 2020 was slightly lower than the 53 reported in 2019, although RSF informed that fewer journalists worked in the field this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the watchdog said, the figure shows an increase in the targeting of reporters investigating organised crime, corruption, or environmental issues. It highlighted murders in Mexico, India, and Pakistan.
According to the annual report, almost 84 percent of those killed this year were “deliberately targeted” for their work compared to 63 percent in 2019. “For several years now, RSF noted that investigative journalists are really in the crosshairs of states, or cartels,” said Pauline Ades-Mevel, RSF editor-in-chief.
Mexico was the deadliest country, with eight killed. “Links between drug traffickers and politicians remain, and journalists who dare to cover these or related issues continue to be the targets of barbaric murders,” said the report.
None of the Mexico killings had yet been punished, added RSF. Meanwhile, five journalists were killed in war-torn Afghanistan, it said, noting an increase in targeted attacks on media workers.
RSF also highlighted the case of Iranian opposition figure Ruhollah Zam, who ran a popular social media channel that rallied regime opponents, and who was executed in December.
“His execution confirms Iran’s record as a country that has officially put the most journalists to death in the past half-century,” it said.
On Monday, Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, who sent dispatches from Wuhan during the chaotic initial stages of the outbreak, was jailed for four years for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”.
