UNESCO calls 2023 “lethal” for journalists in conflict zones

The deaths of 65 journalists, 38 of whom were in conflict zones, prompted UNESCO to classify 2023 as a dead year, despite a decrease in the absolute number of casualties compared to last year (88).

“Behind this decline in absolute terms lies a very worrying phenomenon: a clear increase in the number of homicides in conflict zones,” UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Director-General Audrey Azoulay warned in a report on Tuesday. statement.

The countries where UNESCO has recorded the highest number of deaths in conflict zones are the same ones already reported by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in its latest annual report: Palestine (19), Lebanon (3) and Israel ( 2).

All of the deaths of media professionals recorded by the UN agency in the three territories occurred after attacks by the Islamist group Hamas on Israel, and not since the beginning of the year, as RSF reported.

Afghanistan, Cameroon, Syria and Ukraine have also seen several journalists die, with at least two deaths each.

The decline in deaths occurred mainly in the United States and Latin America and the Caribbean, which recorded 15 homicides this year, compared with 43 in 2022.

These figures do not include deaths of journalists and public relations professionals in circumstances unrelated to their profession.

According to this international organization, threats, physical attacks, arrests and confiscation of equipment are other risks faced by these professionals.

A situation that, as he guaranteed, could give rise to “zones of silence”, that is, the inaccessibility of information to citizens in areas where it is of decisive importance.