New York, Dec. 9 (BUS): The number of journalists behind bars worldwide hit a global high in 2021, according to a new report from the nonprofit Committee to Protect Journalists, which says 293 reporters have been imprisoned as of Dec. 1. this year.
At least 24 journalists have been killed for their coverage, and another 18 have died in circumstances that make it extremely difficult to determine whether they were targeted because of their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday in its annual poll on press freedom and attacks on the media. According to Reuters.
According to a recent report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 42 journalists have been murdered globally this year, as of December 1.
While the reasons for imprisoning reporters differ between countries, the index reflects political turmoil around the world and growing intolerance for independent reporting, according to the US-based nonprofit.
“This is the sixth year in a row that CPJ has documented record numbers of imprisoned journalists around the world,” CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said in a statement. “The number reflects two inextricable challenges – governments are determined to control and manage information, and are bolder in their efforts to do so.”
According to the report, 293 journalists are still being held as of December 1, 2021 – the highest number since the organization began tracking jailing of journalists in 1992.
Among the journalists killed in 2021 were Danish Siddiqui, a Reuters cameraman killed in a Taliban attack in Afghanistan in July, and Gustavo Sanchez Cabrera, who was shot dead in Mexico in June.
China has jailed 50 journalists, the most of any other country, followed by Myanmar (26) which arrested reporters as part of a crackdown after the February 1 military coup, then Egypt (25), Vietnam (23) and Belarus (19), CPJ said .
According to the latest report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 108 journalists were imprisoned between January 1 and December 1, 2021.
For the first time, CPJ’s list includes journalists imprisoned in Hong Kong — a byproduct of the 2020 National Security Act, which makes anything Beijing deems as sabotage, separatism, terrorism, or collusion with foreign forces punishable by life imprisonment.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Mexico, where journalists are often targeted when their work upsets criminal gangs or corrupt officials, remains the deadliest country for reporters in the Western Hemisphere.
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