The level of deadly violence against journalists is at its lowest in 16 years and almost twice as low as the 20-year average, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) nonprofit said in its yearly round-up report on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th December, 2019) The level of deadly violence against journalists is at its lowest in 16 years and almost twice as low as the 20-year average, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) nonprofit said in its yearly round-up report on Tuesday.According to the report, a total of 49 journalists were killed this year, 389 are currently in prison and 57 are being held hostage.
"The number of journalists killed this year - 49 - is the lowest since 2003, and represents a spectacular 44% fall on last year's figure. This year's 'historically low' figure, compared with an annual average of 80 journalists killed during the past two decades, is above all the result of a fall in the number of journalists killed in war zones," the RSF said.
The fall was primarily driven by the positive dynamics in war zones, while in countries at peace the figure remained mostly as high as in previous years, the report continued, saying that "more journalists (59%) are now being killed in countries at peace than in war zones." For example, in Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan a total of 14 journalists were killed this year as opposed to 34 last year, while in Mexico the number - 10 - remained unchanged.
"Another worrying aspect of this year's round-up is the number of arbitrarily detained journalists, which has risen yet again. Worldwide, a total of 389 journalists are currently in prison in connection with their work, 12% more than last year," the nonprofit added.
According to the findings, nearly half of all arbitrarily detained journalists are being held by three countries - China, Egypt and Saudi Arabia - and of third of all in China alone.
