Stadig flere mediefolk bliver dræbt i verden over, og de fleste af dem i lande, hvor der ikke er krig, skriver FNs Organisation for Uddannelse, Videnskab og Kultur (UNESCO) i en ny rapport, der kom ud onsdag.
Rapporten opfordrer til at bringe en afslutning på disse mord, der har en negativ indflydelse på ytringsfriheden i mange lande.
Sidste år satte ny rekord i antallet af myrdede journalister, der nåede op på 77, ifølge UNESCO. Det høje antal skyldes især 30 journalister, der blev myrdet på Filippinerne den 23. november sidste år.
Læs den fulde rapport (engelsk eller fransk) http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=29600&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
UNESCO raises flag on rising number of murdered journalists (24 March 2010):
Increasing num-bers of journalists are being killed worldwide, mostly in countries that are at peace, UNESCO says in a new report, calling for an end to impunity in the murders of media professionals.
Last year set a new record, with 77 murders reported by the agency. The high number is due in part to the murder of some 30 journalists in one day during an ambush in the Philippines on 23 November 2009, the new publication says.
Lokale journalister som mål
The figure exceeded the previous record of 69 set in 2006, when violence in Iraq was rampant.
The number of journalists murdered dropped in 2007 and 2008, recording 53 and 48 killings respectively, partly because of the improvement of the situation in Iraq.
The report also finds that the percentage of murders between 2008-2009 not linked to conflicts rose in comparison to the previous biennium. Most victims were not foreign war correspondents, but rather local journalists who were working in countries at peace.
En trussel
“Sadly, the frequency of acts of violence against journalists is increasing,” it notes. “In most cases, impunity precludes the way of justice, and if this trend prevails, journalists will remain easy targets.
“Needless to say this represents a severe threat to freedom of expression and to our ability to seek the truth.”
At least 80 per cent of the 125 murders in 2008-2009 were due to attacks specifically targeting the victims by “those who do not wish journalists to investigate and reveal information of public interest,” the publication finds.
FN pressemeddelelse http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34175&Cr=journailst&Cr1=.
