67 journalists killed while in line of duty in 2015: Report

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

Tuesday 29 Dec 2015 - 16:26 Makkah mean time-18-3-1437 Journalists targeted in the course of their work (Pic: AFP) Paris (IINA) – A total of 110 journalists were killed around the world in 2015, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Tuesday, noting that while many died in war zones, the majority were killed in supposedly peaceful countries, AFP reported. Sixty-seven journalists were killed in the line of duty this year, the watchdog group said in its annual roundup, listing war-torn Iraq and Syria as most dangerous places for journalists with 11 and 10 fatalities respectively, followed by France, where eight journalists were killed in an extremist assault on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. A further 43 journalists around the world died in circumstances that were unclear and 27 non-professional "citizen-journalists" and seven other media workers were also killed, RSF said. The high toll is "largely attributable to deliberate violence against journalists" and demonstrates the failure of initiatives to protect media personnel, the report said, calling for the United Nations to take action. "The 110 journalists killed this year need a response that matches the emergency. A special representative of the United Nations secretary-general for the safety of journalists must be appointed without delay," RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire said. The 67 deaths bring to 787 the total number of journalists who were murdered, knowingly targeted or killed in the course of their work since 2005, the Paris-based organisation said. In 2014, there were 66 such fatalities. France was the scene of an unprecedented attack on the press in January, when gunmen opened fire at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people, including eight journalists. The annual RSF report highlighted the growing role of "non-state groups" - such as the self-styled "Islamic State" (IS) – in committing violence against journalists. AB/IINA