2023 for the press: at least 51 journalists murdered in a year marked by the Gaza war for the profession

   MADRID, 30 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

At least 45 journalists have been murdered in the exercise of their duties, 521 imprisoned and 54 kidnapped in 2023, according to the annual report of Reporters Without Borders (RSF). At least six other people are added to the number of fatalities, so the total number would rise to 51 according to Europa Press' count.

In this way, although the number of journalistic professionals murdered is lower than in 2022 (61), the massacre of journalists in Gaza counteracts a global downward trend in the murders of reporters, if only those murdered in the exercise of his profession or because of it. Around the world, 521 journalists are imprisoned for arbitrary causes related to their profession (-8.4% compared to 2022).

The Reporters Without Borders (RSF) report reflects that more than half of the journalists murdered in 2023 (23) have been in conflict zones. For the first time since 2018, the number of journalists killed in conflict zones is, proportionally, higher than those killed in peaceful areas. However, the number of those killed by organized crime and corruption is also "extremely risky", with 15 journalists killed in 2023 for having investigated these topics, especially in Latin America and Africa.

On the other hand, according to RSF, at least 17 information professionals have been murdered in the exercise of their journalistic work, or because of it, in Gaza (Palestine), Israel and Lebanon, since October 7. Likewise, two have been murdered in Ukraine in 2023, 11 since the conflict in the country began.

Likewise, it indicates that Asia and Latin America are the most dangerous peaceful areas for journalists in 2023, with 8 and 6 murdered.

On the other hand, RSF points out that a total of 521 journalists have been imprisoned this year, with China, Burma, Belarus and Vietnam as the highest risk countries.

For yet another year, China remains the largest prison in the world for journalists, with 121 media professionals imprisoned in its territory (12 of them in Hong Kong). Nearly a quarter (23%) of the world's detained journalists are currently in Chinese prisons.

In Burma, 68 journalists remain imprisoned in 2023 (up from 78 in 2022); half, awaiting trial. Alexander Lukashenko's Belarus will join, in 2023, the three regimes that imprison the most journalists: 39 of them are currently imprisoned (7 more than in 2022). Belarus is the country with the most female journalists in prison (10), after China (14). In 2023, more than one in ten imprisoned journalists will be women (67).

Finally, of the 521 imprisoned journalists, more than half (296) are awaiting trial.

Likewise, RSF adds that at least 54 media professionals currently remain kidnapped in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Mexico and Mali. Almost half of these journalists (25) were captured by the Islamic State group (IS) in Iraq and Syria, between 2013 and 2015.

The number of journalists held hostage in 2023 is the lowest recorded since 2017. Of the seven journalists kidnapped in 2023 (Mexico, Haiti, Yemen, Mali), two remain captive in Mali.

Along these lines, he explains that there are currently 84 missing journalists and that, to those who were already missing previously, seven were added in 2023: 7 journalists have disappeared in Palestine (2), Sudan (2), Russia (1), Mexico (1) and Democratic Republic of the Congo (1).

To date, of the 84 journalists who have disappeared in the world, it states that 39 are victims of forced disappearances, that is, of deprivation of liberty in which state agents intervene who deny the arrest or hide the fate and whereabouts of the person. .

He also adds that Mexico surpasses the barrier of 30 missing persons, "a figure that illustrates the dimension of the threats that weigh on the journalistic profession in this country."