Observatory of Killed Journalists
This Observatory provides updated information on the killing of journalists since 1993 and on the judicial status of condemned cases since 2006. It also provides to UNESCO's requests for information into the judicial status of ongoing and unresolved cases. You may browse the full list of killed journalists and search for visual statistics and data.
This Observatory makes publicly accessible UNESCO鈥檚 work on monitoring and reporting on the safety of journalists, as well as on global impunity for these crimes, data which is largely collected through the Director-General's Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity. It forms an essential part of the implementation of the UN Action Plan on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity.
UNESCO condemns the killing of journalists
Recording Killings of Journalists
The term journalist in UNESCO's monitoring and reporting mechanisms covers 鈥渏ournalists, media workers and social media producers who are engaged in journalistic activity鈥, in line with IPDC Decisions on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity adopted by the IPDC Council in , , , , , , and . This definition also aligns with 's broad interpretation of journalism as a "shared function" by a wide range of actors, including professional full-time reporters and analysts, as well as bloggers and others who engage in forms of self-publication in print, on the internet.
The cases of journalist killings recorded in this Observatory are identified and verified through the following process. First, a case of an alleged killing of a journalist is flagged to the Secretariat, for example by a Member State, Field Office, or specialised observer. The case is then added to an internal list for further monitoring and verification. UNESCO verifies that multiple sources, including international and regional press freedom, media and human rights organizations in relationship with UNESCO鈥檚 Governing Bodies, have confirmed that a particular killing may have been connected to the journalists work, for example, when a journalist is targeted for reprisals as a result of their work, or killed while on assignment.
Cases that don鈥檛 meet the verification criteria keep being monitored. The information in this Observatory can be updated in case of new evidence. The Observatory includes all cases for which the Director-General has called for a thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding their deaths, including cases of deaths that have been deplored.
State Responses
State Reactions
This graph shows the rate of State reactions to the Director-General's requests for information on the judicial status of cases into journalist killings in % from 2013 to 2022.
For more information on the categorization of State reactions please visit the Director-General's Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity.
UNESCO, lead UN agency for freedom of expression
UNESCO鈥檚 mandate to monitor the killings of journalists stems from which was adopted at the 29th Session of UNESCO鈥檚 General Conference in 1997. The Resolution invites the Director-General to condemn the 鈥渁ssassination and any physical violence against journalists as a crime against society鈥.
In 2008, the gave UNESCO a central role in monitoring the follow-up of killings condemned by the Director-General. Since then, successive Decisions on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity adopted by the Intergovernmental Council of the International Programme on the Development of Communication (IPDC) have reinforced UNESCO鈥檚 mandate, most recently in .
Based on the information provided by Member States on judicial inquiries into journalist killings, every two years an analytical report is presented by the Director-General on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity to the Intergovernmental Council of the IPDC.
UNESCO is responsible for these monitoring mechanisms as per the , but also within the . In fact, this data contributes to UNESCO's responsibility to collect information on the monitoring indicator of data for SDG 16.10.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals, in conjunction with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Global data on violence against journalists, trade unionists and other human rights defenders is collected by OHCHR, ILO and UNESCO using a common template and integrated into a single dataset.