UN: over 90% of journalist killings worldwide left unpunished

PanARMENIAN.Net - More than 90 percent of journalist killings worldwide remain unpunished, the UN News Centre said, according to RIA Novosti.

UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson described the trend as “shocking and unacceptable” during a special meeting on the protection of journalists in armed conflicts.

“The least we can do when a journalist is murdered, is to ensure that the death is investigated swiftly and justice is served,” the UN News Service quoted the official as saying.

He said that about 600 journalists have been killed worldwide in the past ten years. Although 41 journalists were killed last year in war-torn Syria alone, the majority of journalists and media staff are killed while reporting on corruption and other illegal activities.

Every time a journalist is killed or intimidated into silence, “there is one less voice to speak on behalf of the victims of conflict, crime and human rights abuses…one less observer of efforts to uphold rights and ensure human dignity,” Eliasson said.

Kathleen Carroll, Associated Press executive editor and vice chair of the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), said that according to CPJ figures, 5 in 6 murdered journalists are killed in their own hometowns covering local stories, often related to crime and corruption.