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Time to Break the Cycle of Violence Against Journalists: Highlights from UNESCO Director-General's 2016 Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity

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The 2016 UNESCO Director-General Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity offers an overview of the killings of journalists condemned by the Director-General in 2014-2015. It also provides an analysis of a decade of killings of journalists, media workers and social media producers between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2015. The extent of the risks faced by journalists is demonstrated by the 827 killings recorded by UNESCO over the course of ten years. To this, one needs to add the countless other violations endured by journalists, which include kidnappings, arbitrary detention, torture, intimidation and harassment, both offline and online, and seizure or destruction of material. This Report is focused exclusively on the killings of journalists, the ultimate form of censorship.

The UNESCO Director-General Report responds to a call from the 39 Member States of the Intergovernmental Council of UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC). The 2016 UNESCO Director-General Report will be presented at the 30th Session of the Intergovernmental Council on 17 November. Learn more about the UNESCO Director-General Report here.