Killings of journalists worldwide increased in 2022 and last year compared to the previous two years, a report published yesterday by the UN cultural body UNESCO said, with almost all cases going unpunished.

At 162 deaths, the number of journalists killed while working rose by 38 percent, the report said, calling the increase “alarming.”

“In 2022 and 2023, a journalist was killed every four days simply for doing his vital job of seeking the truth,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement.

Photo: AFP

She called on countries “to do more to ensure that these crimes never go unpunished.”

The highest number of murders occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean, at 61 over the past two years, while the least deadly global region for journalists was North America and Western Europe, with six murders.

The report also found that the majority of journalists killed were in conflict zones last year for the first time since 2017, at 44 deaths or 59 percent of that year’s total, reversing a years-long downward trend in conflict deaths.

Of the journalists killed in 2022 and last year, 14 were women – 9% of the total – while at least five were between the ages of 15 and 24.

Almost all killings of journalists remain unsolved, with 85% of cases identified by UNESCO since 2006 still unsolved or abandoned, according to country-by-country responses.

This marked some improvement on the non-resolution rate of 89% in 2018 and 95% in 2012.

However, out of 75 countries contacted by UNESCO for updates on open cases, 17 did not respond at all and nine only accepted the request.

Even in the 210 cases where the murders of journalists were solved, the average length of time was four years.

“Justice delayed is justice denied,” the report’s authors wrote.