ISLAMABAD: As the year 2020 draws to a close, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in a ‘White Paper on Global Journalism’ listed five countries, including Pakistan and India, as the ‘Most Dangerous Countries for Practice of Journalism in the World’.

The white paper marks the 13th anniversary of the ‘The List of Journalists Killed (1990-2020), during which 2,658 journalists lost their lives in the line of duty. Iraq topped the list of most dangerous countries for practising journalism, as 340 journalists lost their lives there, followed by Mexico (178 journalists), the Philippines (178 journalists), Pakistan (138 journalists), and India (116 journalists).

This year the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) recorded killing of 42 journalists and media staff so far in targeted attacks, bomb blasts and cross-fire incidents in 15 countries.

In its 2020 country-wise ranking, Mexico tops the list for a fourth time in five years with 13 killings, followed by Pakistan (five), India, Afghanistan, Iraq and Nigeria (three each), the Philippines, Somalia and Syria (two each) while one journalist was killed in each of the six countries Cameroon, Honduras, Paraguay, Russia, Sweden and Yemen.

In the Indian sub-continent, murders of journalists in Pakistan (138) and in India (116) have featured almost every year in the list since 1990, making 40 per cent of the total deaths of journalists in the Asia Pacific region.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2020