According to a report published on January 16 by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), based in New York, 361 journalists have been imprisoned worldwide in 2024, the second highest figure since the world record in 2023, with 370 imprisoned. Followed by Belarus and Russia, China, Israel and Myanmar were the territories that imprisoned the most informants. Many countries, such as China, Israel, Tunisia and Azerbaijan, imposed new prison records.

The country’s continued authoritarian repression, war and political or economic instability were the main reasons why journalists were imprisoned in 2024. Usually, such accusations were made against reporters of marginalized ethnic groups whose community was the basis of their work. Sixty-three percent of jailed journalists (228 out of 361) faced charges against the state, often accusing them of terrorism or extremism, in countries such as Myanmar, Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Venezuela, Turkey, India and Bahrain, CPJ reported.

Asia has 30% of the world’s jailed journalists

Asia continues to be the region with the highest number of imprisoned journalists in 2024, with more than 30% of the total number worldwide, according to CPJ data. In addition to the major prison countries - China, Myanmar and Israel - there were also jailed journalists in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and the Philippines. The continued repression of independent media made Azerbaijan one of the leading jailers of journalists in Europe and Central Asia in 2024. Turkey no longer ranks among the top jailers of journalists, but the pressure on independent media remains high.

These figures are “ways to draw attention,” says Jodie Ginsberg, CPJ’s Executive Director. He added that “the increase in attacks on journalists almost always goes hand in hand with the increase in attacks on other freedoms: freedom to give and receive information, freedom to assemble and circulate freely and freedom to protest.” Israel as a

violator of international law

In 2024, a total of 108 journalists were arrested in both the Middle East and North Africa, almost half of those detained by Israel for several years. Last year, UN legal experts reported that Israel violated international law by arresting three Palestinian journalists.

The editor of the Palestine Chronicle and researcher at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs, trade union columnist Ramzy Baroud, highlighted that Israel’s treatment of Palestinian journalists has been “particularly cruel.” Baroud said that Israel had killed more than 200 journalists, wounded hundreds and imprisoned and tortured eleven others. “This makes Israel one of the biggest violators of press freedom in the world,” he said.

“Unlike other countries where freedom of the press is violated, Israel faces low scrutiny or consequences for the murder, detention and torture of journalists. Many Western political leaders continue to present Israel as a model of freedom and democracy despite these grave violations,” the columnist argues. Baroud stressed the need to put pressure on all parties involved to “hold those responsible for violating freedom of the press to account, so that this issue is not limited to occasional press releases, but to trigger tangible actions.”