A clear increase in the deaths of journalists in 2022

A UNESCO report published on Monday found that the number of journalists killed worldwide increased by 36 percent in 2021 compared to last year, 2022. More than half of the 86 journalists killed in 2022 were from Latin America and the Caribbean, followed by Mexico, followed by Ukraine and Haiti’s name is included.

“All authorities must redouble their efforts to eradicate these types of crimes to ensure that the perpetrators of such crimes are punished,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement on Monday. can go. Apathy is a major factor in this atmosphere of violence.”

Compared to 2018, the number of deaths of media workers was reduced in 2021, but in 2022, a clear increase was seen in this number. The report also found that half of the journalists who were killed were not killed in the course of their journalistic activities or their jobs, but either while traveling or in their homes. This is a clear proof that no place is safe for journalists, even in their spare time.

Last year, the situation in Pakistan was very alarming with regard to attacks on journalists and measures against freedom of press. About this, Imtiaz Alam, former secretary general of ‘South Asian Free Media Association’ SEFMA and a well-known media personality, expressed his views in a special conversation with Deutsche Welle. In response to a question about what the treatment of the journalist community in Pakistan indicates, Imtiaz Alam said, “Ever since Pakistan joined the war against terrorism and the concept of hybrid warfare thereafter, If adopted, the biggest target would be the media and journalists. The military imposed a permanent censorship system and the media came under military control. Journalists have been targeted, kidnapped, tortured and even killed for doing free journalism. Among them were those who worked for intelligence agencies. Like Arshad Sharif. When they crossed the line, they were killed or sidelined. “

About the control of the mainstream media, Imtiaz Alam said, “Because of the control of the mainstream media, what the ruling party wanted to do. A disinformation regime was imposed and public opinion was misled. Along with the ban on the expression of the right, the people’s right to information also disappeared. We see the result in the spread of right-wing and extremist thinking.’

Deutsche Welle spoke to Mazhar Abbas, a well-known Pakistani journalist, analyst and former president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, against the backdrop of the latest UNESCO report on the situation of journalists. He was asked why journalists are targeted. So his answer was, “Journalists are targeted all over the world, especially those journalists who expose governments and institutions, mafias and their crimes. Obviously, when you will lift the curtain on the crimes of, expose someone’s corruption, then as a reaction from the other side, sometimes you are given a warning, sometimes a bribe, and if they see that despite this, you are guilty of their crimes and If you don’t stop exposing corruption, then they target you.”