Paris, 2 November 2024 (dpa/MIA) - One journalist was killed every four days over the past two years, according to a new report by UNESCO released on Saturday, coinciding with the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.

Of the 162 killings of journalists in 2022 and 2023 verified by the Paris-based scientific and cultural organization, more than half took place in a country affected by armed conflict. Most media professionals died in their home country, according to the report.

Those who died in countries not affected by a conflict were killed because of their work on organized crime or corruption or while reporting on protests, according to the biannual report, which analyses the state of journalists' safety worldwide.

The report said the 162 verified killings of journalists in 2022-23 represented "a 38% increase from the previous biennium, in which UNESCO recorded 117 cases of killings. This biennium also represents the highest number of killings since the 2016-2017 biennium."

The country with the highest number of killings in 2022 was Mexico with 19 cases, while in 2023 the highest number of journalist deaths, 24, was recorded in the Palestinian territories, UNESCO said.

According to the report, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as Arab countries, are the areas where the highest number of journalists were killed.

The report also found that, in the majority of cases, no one was held accountable for these killings. UNESCO said the global impunity rate so far in 2024 has been 85%, a slight decrease compared to 89% in 2018 and to 95% in 2012.

"These crimes must not and cannot go unpunished. Yet this is still the case for almost 85% of them," UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement.

"On this International Day, let us remember the importance of [journalists'] security, independence and protection in carrying out their mission, which is so crucial to peace and social progress," Azoulay said.

Photo: archive