277 journalists murdered within twelve years across the globe

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has disclosed that, at least 277 journalists were murdered while on the job worldwide since 2008 till date, a period of twelve years as contained in its data of annual analysis.

Penpushing reports that the annual Global Impunity Index explained that 83 percent of those cases did not record successful prosecution of the perpetrators over the ten years, adding that the number represents those killed between September 1, 2010, and August 31, 2020.

“During the 10 year index period ending August 31, 2020, 277 journalists were murdered for their work worldwide and in 83 per cent of those cases, no perpetrators have been successfully prosecuted,” the reports said.

“Politicians, political groups, and other powerful actors use violence to silence critical and investigative journalists. CPJ has found that corruption, weak institutions, and lack of political the will to pursue robust investigations are all factors behind impunity in the countries’, the report said.

Penpushing further reports that, committee in the report said Somalia, Syria, Iraq, and South Sudan topped 12 worst countries  “where journalists were singled out for murder and their killers evade justice”, but excluded Nigeria from this year’s index, stating that “one murder in that country, from 2009, is not included in the decade now under scrutiny.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)  organisation had in 2017 ranked Nigeria 11th out of the 12 countries in the world where journalists are slain and the killers freed, adding that the deadly Boko Haram and unknown assailants were responsible for the killings.

Penpushing also reports that, the report has it that, Somalia with a population of  about 15.4 million topped the index with a total of 26 numbers of unresolved murders,adding that, the war-ravaged countries, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and South Sudan occupy the second, third, fourth, fifth positions on the list with 22, 21, 13, with record of  five journalists killed respectively with impunity.

The data stated that, Mexico, Philippines, Brazil, Pakistan, ranked, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth respectively, while Bangladesh maintains the 10th position as of its 2017 report, and Russia well as  India occupied the  11th and 12th positions.

Penpushing reports that, the committee report said, the12 countries account for 80 per cent of the global total of unsolved murders of journalists for the 10-year index period, adding, “all 12 have featured multiple times since CPJ first compiled the index in 2008, and seven have appeared every year.

“CPJ Global Impunity Index calculates the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country’s population. For this index, journalists who were deliberately killed in retaliation for the victim’s work. It excludes journalists killed in combat such as coverage of protests that turn violent,” the committee said.

Penpushing further reports that, the high profile  killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, by Saudi agents in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul in October top the record, while  February, Slovakian investigative journalist Jan Kuciak, was shot dead alongside his fiancé, the second murder of a European Union journalist covering corruption in less than six months.

The record in the same vein, stated that, in Afghanistan, a suicide bomber targeted a group of reporters, killing nine in a single explosion in April, stressing that about 34 journalists were reportedly murdered this year compared to 18 in 2017.