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At least 95 journalists reportedly killed in 25 countries this year: PEC

Xinhua, September 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

Since January of this year, at least 95 journalists were killed in 25 countries, the Geneva-based NGO, the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), said Wednesday.

Among them, 21 journalists were murdered since the end of June this year when the last session of the UN Human Rights Council concluded, the NGO said.

In an open letter to the ongoing 33th session of the UN Human Rights Council, the PEC said the safety and protection of journalists continued to deteriorate in war-torn countries like Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.

"Terrorist groups and belligerents are targeting journalists to suppress any independent witness of massive violations of human rights," it added.

Urging the UN Human Rights Council to do more to investigate all the cases in order to prosecute those responsible, the organization said it hopes that during this session, the Human Rights Council will take new measures to improve this worrying situation.

Earlier in a statement issued this July, PEC Secretary-General Blaise Lempen said it was clear that unresolved and ongoing conflicts were the source of the high price paid by journalists for informing the general public.

According to the PEC, there is also an alarming trend that a great number of media workers were intentionally targeted by radical organizations, in particular by the Islamic State (IS).

Founded in June 2004 by a group of journalists from several countries, the PEC is a non-governmental organization with special consultative UN status, whose aim is to strengthen the legal protection and safety of journalists in zones of conflict and civil unrest or on dangerous missions. Endit