Ranking shows countries with the most crimes against journalists with impunity

London – Haiti and Israel top the list of countries where the most crimes against press professionals go unpunished in proportion to the size of the population, according to a new report published by the Committee to Protect Journalists to mark World Day to End Impunity.

The countries on the list, spread across all continents, suffer from one or more corrosive factors that allow journalist killers to escape justice: wars, civil uprisings, authoritarian governments, criminal gangs and lack of political and judicial action.

Not even democracies escape: CPJ highlights in the report the cases of Mexico (8th place in the ranking), which has the highest rate of journalists killed among countries that are not at war, and Brazil (11th), where there were 10 journalist deaths. journalists since the 80s, such as the Englishman Dom Philips.

Four out of every five crimes against journalists go unpunished worldwide

Only cases defined as “murder” – when the crime was connected to the journalist’s work – are included in the impunity index.

In this index period, CPJ identified 241 murders where there was clear evidence that the murders were directly linked to a person’s work.

Less than 4% of those murdered received full justice; 19% got partial justice, meaning some of their killers were held accountable; and the remaining 77% went unpunished.

The rate is much better than a decade ago – when it was 90% – and a little better than the 78% documented by CPJ in 2023, “but there is certainly no reason to celebrate”, highlights the entity.

“Impunity has taken hold across the world, with around four in five journalist killers consistently going unpunished.”

Dom Philips case, example of impunity

In Brazil, as in Mexico, most cases occurred outside large urban centers and involved journalists from small local press outlets (5), radio stations (3) and freelancers (2).

Impunity is extensive; Even cases with international repercussions, such as the murder of Dom Phillips in 2022 in the Amazon, remain unsolved, highlights CPJ.

Three defendants were arrested and are expected to stand trial. The alleged mentor was also arrested, but justice has not yet been served, the organization points out.

The countries with the most unpunished crimes

This is the first year that Israel has appeared on the CPJ index since its creation in 2008.

Although Haiti and Israel have overtaken previous top-ranked impunity leaders, “this does not mean that other offenders have improved on their dismal record in obtaining justice for journalists,” the report says.

Graph showing countries with the most unpunished crimes against journalists

Somalia, Syria and South Sudan complete the worst five in 2024.

All three have appeared in the CPJ index for at least a decade. Somalia is one of six countries that have been included in all 17 years of the index’s existence.

In Haiti, a weak or non-existent judiciary, gang violence, poverty and political instability have contributed to the failure to hold journalist killers accountable.

The country entered the index for the first time in 2023, in third place, when criminal gangs took over large parts of the country following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, plunging the press into an “existential crisis” that forced many to cut staff or close completely.

Israel’s targeted killing of journalists in Gaza and Lebanon during a relentless war has propelled it to second place in this year’s index, which covers the period from September 1, 2014 to August 31, 2024.

CPJ has documented the murder of five journalists — four Palestinians and one Lebanese — since the start of the war, and is investigating the possible deliberate murders of 10 more professionals.

Due to the difficulty of documenting the war, the number could be much higher, explains the organization.

International task force to seek justice

The Committee advocates, alongside other press freedom organizations, the creation of an international investigative task force focused on crimes against journalists.

A blueprint for a body, initially proposed in 2020 by a panel of legal experts, could deploy resources or advise in situations where local police may not have the capacity or political will to investigate crimes against journalists.

The other nations in the CPJ index

THE Pakistan has appeared on the impunity index every year since 2008. Inadequate evidence collection, limited resources, political interference and corruption have repeatedly resulted in ineffective investigations and prosecutions of journalist murders, according to the survey.

CPJ confirmed that at least two Pakistani journalists were killed in direct retaliation for their work in 2024, and is investigating four other possible work-related murders.

To the Philippines, also in the index every year since 2008 and often in the No. 1 or No. 2 position, they have recorded an unsolved murder of a journalist almost every year since 1992.

Full justice remains elusive for the 32 reporters and media workers killed in the Maguindanao massacre 15 years ago — one of the deadliest attacks on the press — as well as for journalists like Gerry Ortega, a radio host killed in 2011.

THE Iraq andended its six-year hiatus in work-related murders in 2024 with the attack on two journalists. Islamic State (IS) militants and anti-Kurdish Turkish forces were behind most of the 11 murders in the index period.

As violence escalates, media restrictions, censorship and threats against journalists — both in Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan — continue apace.

THE Afghanistan has recorded 18 journalists murdered in the last decade, with the Islamic State group claiming responsibility for 13 deaths.

The Taliban, despite their opposition to IS, have not sought justice for the dead and continue to harass, attack and detain journalists and ban news outlets.

THE India It has been on the index every year since its creation, with 19 murders of journalists in the last decade.

The victims were authors of reports on various topics, from politics to the environment. The latest murder occurred during India’s national elections this year.

In Myanmar, the number of unpunished crimes against journalists rose to eight, with three new cases documented in 2024.

The rise in murders comes amid a harsh crackdown on free press, as the military has arrested dozens of journalists and banned more than a dozen independent media outlets since seizing power in 2021.