Rise in no. of scribes killed globally; 18 such deaths in India in 5 yrs: UNESCO

The number of journalists killed all over the world has seen a sharp rise in five years, with 530 such deaths – 18 of them in India – being reported from 2012 to 2016-end, a UNESCO report released on Thursday said.

The report on ‘World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development Global Report 2017/2018' said the number of killings was 67.72 per cent higher than the 316 recorded during the previous five-year period— from 2007 to 2011-end.

Syria, with 86, recorded the highest number of killings, followed by Iraq (46), Mexico (37), Somalia (36), Pakistan (30), Brazil (29), the Philippines and Yemen (21 each), Afghanistan (20), Honduras (19), India (18), Libya (17) and Guatemala (14).

Ten journalists were killed in Bangladesh, 10 in Ukraine, eight in France and six each in Paraguay and Turkey.

“The year 2012 proved to be the deadliest year on record, with 124 journalists killed," said the report, released on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, which is marked on Thursday.

Although the number of journalists killed every year has seen a slight decline since 2012, the figures are still alarmingly high, the report said.

“With a number of Member States that have experienced periods of violent conflict, the Arab region remains the most dangerous for journalists, with 191 journalists killed between 2012 and 2016, including a significant peak of 50 deaths in 2012,” it said.

Despite registering a decline in the following years, the overall the region represents 36 per cent of all cases.

Of the total 530 killings in 2012-2016, as many as 166 were TV journalists, 142 print, 118 radio, 75 online and 29 cross-platform.