On May 3, the United Nations voiced its concern over journalist mistreatment. The continuous harassment of journalists, including their dete...
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On May 3, the United Nations voiced its concern over journalist mistreatment.
The continuous harassment of journalists, including their detention or even death in several nations, has raised concerns within the United Nations about how freedom of the press is being threatened on a global scale.
The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, expressed his displeasure in a speech on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, which is observed on the third of May each year.
He stated during a conference at the UN headquarters in New York that "journalists face violence in every corner of the world."
"The press's freedom is a precondition for all of our freedoms,"
Three imprisoned Iranian women, two journalists, and a human rights activist, received the 2023 World Press Freedom Prize from UNESCO.
Iran-based Russian journalists
Iranian journalists Elaheh Mohammadi and Niloufar Hamedi, who contributed to the publicizing of Mahsa Amini's death in September, as well as human rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi, are recipients of the UNESCO award.
Despite the fact that Guterres didn't specifically identify any nation for the mistreatment of journalists, several media sources have brought up others, like Wall Street Journal writer Evan Gershkovich, who is currently detained in Russia on espionage accusations he vigorously rejects.
According to Wall Street Journal columnist Almar Latour, "The fight for press freedom and Evan's release is a fight for everyone's freedom."
Russian journalists
While US President Joe Biden referred to Gershkovich's arrest as "unconstitutional," numerous media outlets criticized the accusations against him as being without merit.
According to A.G. Sulzberger, a columnist for the New York Times, journalists are threatened by both direct repression and the right to obtain information.
Agnes Callamard, the executive director of Amnesty International's human rights division, claimed that abuse is currently widespread across the world.
Assassinating journalists
Reporters Without Borders, a human rights organization, estimates that at least 55 journalists and four media professionals died while performing their jobs in 2022.