Intimidate and silence critical voices
54 full-time media professionals—including one woman—are currently being held hostage, 35 percent more than at the same time last year. This is according to figures published by Reporters Without Borders in the first part of its annual report.
Most of the kidnappings occurred in Syria (26), Yemen (13), Iraq (10) and Libya (5), areas where armed non-state groups use this method to intimidate and silence critical voices. Ninety-five percent of the currently kidnapped media workers are from the respective countries; only five percent are foreign reporters. 18 of the current kidnappings are attributable to IS, 9 journalists were abducted by the Huthi rebels in Yemen and 4 by the Al-Nusra Front in Syria.
For the first time, ROG's annual report also documents the number of disappeared media workers about whose current situation no reliable information is available. These "disappearances" occur in conflict regions where research into their fate is difficult. Most such cases - five out of eight worldwide - occurred in Libya during 2015, where four Libyan journalists and an Egyptian cameraman from the private TV station Barqa TV disappeared.
Most media professionals imprisoned: China, Egypt, Iran, Eritrea, Turkey
There are currently 153 full-time media professionals imprisoned for their work, 23 of them in China, 22 in Egypt, 18 in Iran, 15 in Eritrea and 9 in Turkey. Looking at the total number of arrests over the year, Turkey stands out as the country with the most cases - 11 percent of all arrests of media professionals worldwide - clear evidence of the increase in state repression there. In addition to full-time media professionals, other information disseminators around the world are also being persecuted; for example, 161 citizen journalists and 14 media workers are currently in prison.
"Safety Guide" for Media Professionals
With the annual review, ROG also publishes a new edition of the "Safety Guid for Journalists" before. This handbook, published jointly with Unesco, contains practical advice for media professionals in crisis and conflict regions, as well as recommendations for protecting digital data and communication channels when researching in sensitive environments; it is downloadable in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.
