RSF report 2024: Bangladesh 3rd most dangerous country for journos

Bangladesh is the third most dangerous country for journalists, according to the 2024 report of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published yesterday.

It said five journalists were killed while carrying out their work in Bangladesh.

According to RSF, fifty-four journalists were killed worldwide, a third of them by the Israeli army. Among the 18 journalists killed by the Israeli military this year -- 16 were in Gaza and two in Lebanon.

The report said Asia was the second most dangerous region for journalists in the world mainly due to the large number of journalists killed in Pakistan (seven) and Bangladesh (five).

In July, protests triggered by the reinstatement of a controversial quota system for public jobs were violently repressed by the police, said RSF.

The report mentioned the name of a journalist for the Dhaka Times, Mehedi Hasan, who was killed on July 18 while covering clashes between protestors and security forces in Jatrabari area of the capital.

"In Bangladesh, the violent crackdown on protests claimed the lives of five journalists. Security forces deliberately targeted them in a systematic attempt to censor coverage of this historic uprising, which led to the overthrow of the government," it said, adding that many journalists were also injured.

In 2024, the Gaza Strip accounted for nearly 30 percent of journalists killed in connection with their work around the globe.

"Palestine is the most dangerous country for journalists, recording a higher death toll than any other country over the past five years," RSF said in its annual report, which covers data up to December 1.

The organization has filed four complaints with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for "war crimes committed against journalists by the Israeli army."

It said that in total "more than 145" journalists had been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza since the start of the war there in October 2023, with 35 of them working at the time of their deaths, RSF said.

In a separate report published Tuesday, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) reported that 104 journalists were killed worldwide in 2024, with more than half of them in Gaza.

The figures differ between the IFJ and RSF due to two different methodologies used in calculating the toll.

RSF only includes journalists whose deaths have been "proven to be directly related to their professional activity."

After Gaza, the deadliest places for journalists in 2024 were Pakistan with seven deaths, followed by Bangladesh and Mexico with five each.

In 2023, the number of journalists killed worldwide stood at 45 in the same January-December period.

As of December 1, there were 550 journalists imprisoned worldwide, compared to 513 last year, according to RSF figures.

The three countries with the highest numbers of detained journalists are China (124, including 11 in Hong Kong), Myanmar (61), and Israel (41).

Furthermore, 55 journalists are currently being held hostage, including two abducted in 2024. Nearly half -- 25 in total -- are in the hands of the Islamic State group.

In addition, 95 journalists are reported missing, including four new cases reported in 2024.