The invasion of Ukraine turned the world’s attention to crimes against journalists in Europe. Since the beginning of the conflict, in February, seven media job-related deaths in the region.
But a new report by the Council of Europe (CoE) in partnership with the International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) and other organizations shows that war has only exacerbated an alarming scenario.
Last year, the CoE reported 282 serious press freedom violations in 35 countries – an increase of 41% from 200 in 2020.
Journalism in Europe threatened by increasing attacks
The report titled “Defend the freedom of the press in times of tension and conflict”, presented by the Belgian Press Association, shows that “red lights are flashing” for independent media in Europe.
Data were collected from the records of the EC Platform to Protect Journalism and Promote the Safety of Journalists.
According to the document, some reported violations against journalism in Europe reflect repeated flaws in so-called “faulty democracies”. Others are responding to the measures taken to combat the covid-19 pandemic and are supposed to be supposedly temporary.
“But it’s not just the numbers themselves. The nature and severity of press violations should be a warning to anyone who cares about the state of democracies in Europe.”
According to the EC, politicians and other government officials are responsible for 47% of reported violations in 2021. And in a growing number of countries these cases do not occur occasionally.
“They are the result of a deliberate strategy of imposing an ‘unliberal’ model in complete violation of the fundamental principles of the rule of law and human rights.”
Among the 282 violations of freedom of the press, attacks on the safety and physical integrity of journalists (82) stand out; the arrest and imprisonment of journalists (32); harassment and intimidation of journalists (110); impunity in cases (2); other actions with serious effects on freedom of the press (56).
One of the latest attacks that exemplifies the increasing pressure on the press in Europe was the attack of the Dutch journalist. Peter DeVries. He was killed in July after being shot five times in an attack related to his coverage of drug trafficking in the country.
The case shocked the Netherlands and the journalistic world, as it took place in a country where the press was free and there were no major social conflicts. But it exposed the increased risk journalists face when exposing corruption and drug-trafficking cases, as De Vries did.
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In terms of online abuse, the report notes that a total of 110 journalist harassment and bullying alerts were posted on the platform in 2021, compared to 70 in 2020.
The countries with the most reported cases are Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom.
Prepared before the war in Ukraine, the survey includes an analysis of the continent’s conflict over press freedom:
“Attacks on the media and the press resulted in widespread brutal censorship, not only in the Russian media, but also in the foreign press.”
The report highlights Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor, who demanded that media outlets only publish official government statements about the occupation of Ukraine and the course of the war, and threatened to block them and their websites if they did not do so.
Many, Including the Nobel Peace Prize winner actually shut down.
The CoE document also proposes future recommendations to improve journalists’ safety.
In particular, it calls on governments and civil society stakeholders to ensure that all warnings are responded to and followed up with appropriate action.
Journalism in Latin America is more deadly than in Europe
Despite the alarming state of European journalism, Latin America is experiencing a more serious and certainly more deadly scenario. In 2022 alone, at least 14 journalists were killed in professional crimes.
This most (8) cases were recorded in MexicoA country experiencing a dizzying escalation of violence against communicators and alarming organizations around the world that advocate freedom of the press.
This Armando Linares, director and editor of Mexican website Monitor Michoacán, became the eighth journalist to die. As a result of the attacks suffered by the press members of the country this year.
Four other countries in the region report murders of journalists in 2022: Haiti (3), Brazil (1)Honduras (1) and Guatemala (1).
Nicaragua is another country where independent media critical of the government is suppressed. Several professionals were arrested, convicted or forced into exile to escape persecution.
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And in Colombia, a new form of intimidation – unconventional and not subtle – was used against Cecilia Orozco, director of the Colombian news program Noticias Uno: chase with hearse.
Report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in February analyzed Journalist protection programs in four of Latin America’s most dangerous countries for the work of the press – Mexico, Honduras, Colombia and Brazil.
Together, these countries were responsible for 90% of journalist murders in the last decade – 134 deaths in total.
In Brazil, researchers investigated how PPDDH (Program to Protect Human Rights Defenders, Communicators and Environmentalists), an initiative of the federal government in partnership with states and non-governmental organizations with the mandate to create protection plans for people, works. risky.
While the program is an important support network for those in vulnerable situations, RSF cautions that there is an urgent need to develop national procedures and protocols that take into account diversity and adapt to the specific needs of each individual or group that uses it.
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source: Noticias
