More journalists held hostage worldwide

MANILA, Philippines - The number of journalists held hostage worldwide increased this year, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders or Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) said in its year-end report. 

The RSF tally placed 54 professional journalists – including a woman – as currently being held throughout the world, a number that represents a 35 percent increase compared to 2014.

Of the non-state groups that detain journalists, RSF placed Syria at the top with 26 journalists held. It added that the Islamic State alone is holding 18, mainly in Syria and Iraq.

“A full-blown hostage industry has developed in certain conflict zones,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said in their report. 

“We are very alarmed by the increase in the number of reporters held hostage in 2015. The phenomenon is, above all, linked to the big surge in abductions of journalists in Yemen, where 33 were kidnapped by Houthi militias and the al-Qaeda in 2015, against two in 2014. Thirteen are still being held hostage,” Deloire added.

The RSF noted that there are 153 journalists currently in jails. A total of 161 citizen-journalists and 14 media workers are also detained.

Like the New York-based press freedom watch group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the RSF also identified China as the “world’s biggest prison for journalists,” followed by Egypt, with 22 journalists currently held.

‘Missing’ journalists

Eight journalists were reported missing in 2015, the RSF also said. 

“These disappearances occur mainly in conflict zones, where instability makes it harder to conduct investigations to locate missing journalists, if indeed there is any investigation at all,” the RSF report reads.

Libya, where it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain reliable information, is the country most affected by this problem, the RSF said. Four Libyan journalists and an Egyptian cameraman, all employed by the private-owned Barqa TV, were reported missing this year in Libya.

In response to the scale and variety of dangers facing journalists, RSF, in partnership with UNESCO, has produced a fully revised and amended version of its Safety Guide for Journalists.

The guide is designed for reporters going to high-risk areas and is filled with advice on dealing with the dangers in the field and stresses the importance of preparing well before leaving.   

The handbook is available in print and online versions in French, English, Spanish and Arabic.