Nearly three quarters of the journalists killed in 2016 were victims of “deliberate, targeted violence,” Reporters Without Borders said yesterday.
At least 74 professional and non-professional journalists lost their lives in connection with their work, according to the charity’s annual report.
It said that Syria, where 19 journalists were killed this year, was the world’s most deadliest country for journalists to work in.
Afghanistan, where 10 journalists have been killed, was listed as the second deadliest, followed by Mexico, where nine journalists lost their lives.
Among the dead is 19-year-old Osama Jumaa, a photojournalist for the British news agency Images Live, who was killed on June 5 while covering a rescue operation in Aleppo.
The Syrian conflict is particularly dangerous to cover due to constant, indiscriminate shelling, as well as the risk of being detained by the Syrian regime or kidnapped by jihadist groups.
Five female journalists were also killed, including 32-year-old Anabel Flores Salazar, a crime reporter for the Mexican newspaper El Sol de Orizaba, who was kidnapped on February 8.
Her body was discovered the following day on a roadside, with her hands tied and her head covered in a plastic bag.
“The violence against journalists is more and more deliberate,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.
“They are clearly being targeted and murdered because they are journalists.
“This alarming situation reflects the glaring failure of the international initiatives aimed at protecting them, and is a death warrant for independent reporting in those areas where all possible means are used to impose censorship and propaganda, especially by fundamentalist groups in the Middle East.”
The number of deaths in 2016 is slightly lower than the previous year, when 101 journalists – including 12 at the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris – were killed.
Reporters Without Borders said the fall in deaths was partially due to the fact that many journalists have already fled dangerous countries such as Syria, Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan.
Mr Deloire added: “So that international law can be enforced, the UN must establish a concrete mechanism for implementing resolutions.
“With the arrival of a new UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, a special representative for the protection of journalists must be appointed as a matter of urgency.”
The Telegraph
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