Over the course of 2019, the number of journalists killed worldwide fell by around 40 per cent compared with the previous year, thus recording "a historic low". This is according to the annual report by the organisation Reporters Without Borders, which puts the death toll at 49, of whom 46 were men and three were women. In 2018, the total had stood at 80.

Africa the most dangerous continent when combining killings and arbitrary detentions

In detail, of the journalists killed, 36 were professionals, ten were non-professionals and three were contributors to various news organisations. Geographically, Africa is the most dangerous macro-region for journalists, taking into account not only the number of deaths (one sixth of the reporters killed came from an African nation) but also arbitrary detentions: 47 professionals are imprisoned on the continent, the majority of them in Egypt.

In the North African country, there are 29 journalists in detention in total, "many of whom have not even been informed of the charges brought against them." In this respect, Egypt is doing even worse than Saudi Arabia. Among those arrested is blogger Esraa Abdel Fattah, known for having launched a hunger strike to denounce the inhumane treatment she suffered during her interrogation.

AFP News Agency ✓ @AFP

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#UPDATE Forty-nine journalists were killed across the world in 2019, Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday, the lowest death toll in 16 years u.afp.com/JFJC #RSF

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In particular, Somalia remains — for the third consecutive year — the most dangerous African nation. There, their lives were lost by Integration Tv YouTube channel reporter Hodan Nalayeh, Seychelles Sbc Tv correspondent Mohamed Sahal Omar, and cameraman Abdinasir Abdulle Ga'al. Killings were also recorded in Libya, Chad and Nigeria, as well as in Ghana, where investigative journalist and BBC correspondent Ahmed Hussein Suale was shot dead in his car in Accra.

Reporters Without Borders has further specified that more than half of the journalists killed lost their lives in peacetime zones. "The Mexico recorded ten deaths, as in the previous year," the organisation's report states. This makes the Central American nation the most dangerous in the world, on a par with Syria. In Latin America, the total number of reporters killed stood at 14, making the continent more dangerous even than the Middle East.

"For journalists, the boundary between war zones and peacetime is disappearing"

More broadly, the report highlights how war zones (not only Syria, but also Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan) proved less dangerous than in the previous year: "The boundary between countries at war and at peace is disappearing for journalists," explained secretary-general Christophe Deloire.

RSF ✓ @RSF_inter

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#BilanRSF 2019 :
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10
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49 journalistes tués
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57 journalistes otages
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389 journalistes emprisonnés

rsf.org/fr/actualites/…

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Globally, the number of journalists held in detention stands at 389, up 12 per cent compared with 2018. This figure is considered "particularly alarming," also in light of "the proliferation of arrests linked to protest movements emerging around the world, particularly in Algeria and Hong Kong, but also in Chile and Bolivia." Even so, almost half of the imprisoned reporters (186) are behind bars in just three countries: China, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Finally, the organisation reports that 57 journalists are being held hostage around the world: a figure in this case almost identical to that of 2018, concentrated in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Ukraine. No releases were recorded over the course of the year.