(UNESCO): Impunity Rate for Journalist Killings Rises Globally for First Time Since 2012

Paris, November 2 (KUNA) -- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced on Monday that the global impunity rate for the killing of journalists has risen for the first time since the organization began tracking it in 2012. A report issued by the organization stated that the impunity rate increased during the 2024–2025 period to 86 percent, compared to 85 percent in the previous biennium. This reinforces a second key finding of the report, which revealed that 189 journalists were killed in 2024 and 2025, a 20 percent increase over the previous biennium. The report clarified that more than two-thirds of the deceased journalists, totaling 127, lost their lives in conflict zones. It also identified a “new and alarming threat”: the growing use of drones to kill journalists, noting that 50 journalists were killed during the 2024–2025 period in drone attacks, accounting for 40 percent of all journalists killed in conflict zones. For his part, UNESCO Director-General Khalid al-Anani stated that journalists are increasingly paying with their lives for reporting from the front lines of wars, while those responsible for their killings are often not held accountable. He renewed his call for respect for UN Security Council Resolution 2222, unanimously adopted in 2015, concerning the protection of journalists and media professionals and those associated with them as civilians in situations of conflict, a status reaffirmed in the “Pact for the Future.” The UNESCO Director-General’s report on the safety of journalists and the risks of impunity is published biennially on the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Committed against Journalists. (End) M.B. / M.A. H.A.