Journalists' rights group counts 94 media workers killed worldwide, most at an alarming rate in Gaza
Brussels (AP): A leading organisation representing journalists worldwide expressed deep concern Friday at the number of media professionals killed around the globe doing their jobs in 2023, with Israel's war with Hamas claiming more journalists than any conflict in over 30 years.
In its annual count of media worker deaths, the International Federation of Journalists said 94 journalists had been killed so far this year and almost 400 others had been imprisoned.
The group called for better protection for media workers and for their attackers to be held to account.
"The imperative for a new global standard for the protection of journalists and effective international enforcement has never been greater," IFJ President Dominique Pradali said.
The group said 68 journalists had been killed covering the Israeli-Hamas war since October 7 — more than one a day and 72 per cent of all media deaths worldwide. It said the overwhelming majority of them were Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces continue their offensive.
"The war in Gaza has been more deadly for journalists than any single conflict since the IFJ began recording journalists killed in the line of duty in 1990," the group said, adding that deaths have come at "a scale and pace of loss of media professionals' lives without precedent."
Ukraine also "remains a dangerous country for journalists" almost two years since Russia's invasion, the organisation said. It said three reporters and media workers had been killed in that war so far this year.
The organization also deplored media deaths in Afghanistan, the Philippines, India, China and Bangladesh.
It expressed concern that crimes against media workers are going unpunished and urged governments "to shed full light on these murders and to put in place measures to ensure the safety of journalists."
It noted a drop in the number of journalists killed in North and South America, from 29 last year to seven so far in 2023. The group said the three Mexicans, one Paraguayan, one Guatemalan, one Colombian and one American were slain while investigating armed groups or the embezzlement of public funds.
Africa remained the region least affected by deaths of journalists, but the organization highlighted what it described as "three particularly shocking murders" in Cameroon and Lesotho that it said have yet to be fully investigated.
In all, 393 media workers were being held in prison so far this year, the group said. The biggest number were jailed in China and Hong Kong 80 journalists followed by 54 in Myanmar, 41 in Turkey, 40 in Russia and occupied Crimea in Ukraine, 35 in Belarus and 23 in Egypt.
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PM Modi, RSS strengthening wall in path of SCs, STs, OBCs: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS were strengthening the wall standing in the path of Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs, even as he acknowledged that the UPA took steps to weaken that wall but not to the extent it should have.
Addressing the 'Samvidhan Rakshak Abhiyaan', Gandhi also referred to the function held on Constitution Day in Parliament and said that it is his guarantee, that "Modi has not read" the Constitution.
"If PM Modi would have read this book then what he does daily, he would not do it," Gandhi said, displaying a copy of the Constitution of India.
Gandhi said the country's whole system is pitted against Dalits, Adivasis and backward class people.
He said a wall obstructs the path of Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs and Modi and the RSS are strengthening that wall by "adding cement to it".
"Slowly the wall (obstructing the path of SCs, STs, OBCs) is getting strengthened. Earlier, the UPA government gave MGNREGA, the land acquisition act, the right to food...those were ways to weaken that wall. Today, when I look back, I can say the UPA government did not weaken the wall to the extent it should have, it did not do it as strongly as it should have," Gandhi said.
"However, we used to make efforts to weaken that wall but they (the BJP) are strengthening that wall by adding concrete," the former Congress president said.
Gandhi said a caste survey being carried out in Telangana is a historic step and the Congress will do the same wherever it comes to power.
