No one has been held to account for nearly 80% of journalist murders during the last 10 years, CPJ’s 2022 Global Impunity Index found, and governments show little interest in tackling the issue. Somalia remains the worst offender on the index for the eighth straight year. Syria, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iraq, respectively, round out the top five countries on the index, which covers the period from September 1, 2012, to August 31, 2022, and Myanmar makes its first appearance.
CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg called for “thorough, independent investigations to stem violence against journalists — and political and economic consequences for those who fail to carry out such investigations.”
CPJ Advocacy and Communications Director Gypsy Guillén Kaiser spoke at the International Press Institute’s solidarity demonstration in Vienna, Austria. She reflected on the lack of forward movement in UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity on its 10th anniversary and reminded those present that “press freedom is your freedom.”
Separately, CPJ joined more than 60 civil society organizations Thursday calling on the Egyptian authorities to immediately release Egyptian-British blogger and activist Alaa Abdelfattah after he announced that he would escalate his hunger strike in prison.
Abdelfattah, imprisoned since 2019, began a hunger strike in April, which resulted in the severe deterioration of his health. On Tuesday, Abdelfattah announced that he would go on a full hunger strike and stop drinking water on November 6, coinciding with the beginning of the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
CPJ’s Index says vast majority of journalists’ murderers go free
