Turkey is the ‘sixth worst jailer of journalists’ in 2021, shows CPJ report

* Photo: Hacı Bişkin / Gazete Duvar

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With the year 2021 drawing to a close, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has released its annual report on press freedom in the world.

The report has shown that "the number of journalists behind bars has reached a global high" this year. According to the CPJ, "the number of journalists jailed around the world set another record in 2021."

"Invoking new tech and security laws, repressive regimes from Asia to Europe to Africa cracked down harshly on the independent press.

The CPJ's 2021 prison census has found that the number of reporters jailed for their work hit a new global record of 293, up from a revised total of 280 in 2020. While at least 24 journalists were killed because of their coverage so far this year, 18 others reportedly lost their lives "in circumstances too murky to determine whether they were specific targets."

This year, China has remained "the world's worst jailer of journalists" for the third year in a row, with 50 behind bars. Myanmar has soared to the second slot after the media crackdown that followed its February 1 military coup. Egypt, Vietnam and Belarus rounded out the top five.

'Once the worst jailer of journalists...'

Commenting specifically on Turkey, the CPJ has said:

"It's true that some unexpected countries did buck the trend of putting more journalists in prison. Turkey, once the world's worst jailer of journalists, is now ranked sixth in the CPJ census after releasing 20 prisoners in the last year. Eighteen remain. Saudi Arabia's release of 10 prisoners – it's holding 14 after no new journalists were recorded on the 2021 census – means it is no longer among the five biggest offenders.

However, it would be naïve to see lower prisoner numbers as a sign of a change of heart toward the press. As CPJ has noted, Turkey's crackdown after a failed coup attempt in 2016 effectively eradicated the country's mainstream media and prompted many journalists to leave the profession. Turkey's prison count is also declining as the government allows more journalists out on parole to await trial or appeal outcomes.

Findings of note from the report

Sharing an overall commentary on the increase in the number of jailed journalists worldwide, the Committee has briefly noted:

"The reasons for the relentless climb in the numbers of detained journalists – this is the sixth consecutive year that CPJ's census has recorded at least 250 incarcerated – differ between countries.

"But all reflect a stark trend: a growing intolerance of independent reporting. Emboldened autocrats are increasingly ignoring due process and flouting international norms to keep themselves in power.

"In a world preoccupied with COVID-19 and trying to prioritize issues like climate change, repressive governments are clearly aware that public outrage at human rights abuses is blunted and democratic governments have less appetite for political or economic retaliation."

Some other findings of note are as follows:

CPJ recorded 19 journalists murdered in retaliation for their work as of December 1, 2021, compared with 22 in all of 2020. Three more were killed this year while reporting from conflict zones, and two others were killed covering protests or street clashes that turned deadly.
Mexico remained the Western hemisphere's deadliest country for reporters. Three journalists were murdered in direct retribution for their reporting; CPJ is investigating the other six killings to determine whether they were related to their journalism.
India has the highest number of journalists – four – confirmed to have been murdered in retaliation for their work. A fifth was killed while covering a protest.
Six journalists are listed on the prison census for Latin America: three in Cuba, two in Nicaragua, and one in Brazil. While a relatively low number, CPJ has found a disturbing decline in press freedom in the region.
At least 17 jailed journalists have been charged with cybercrimes. In the West African country of Benin, two are charged under the country's broadly worded digital code, which is seen as a major challenge to press freedom by allowing criminal prosecution for anything published or distributed online.
Forty of the 293 detained journalists – less than 14 percent – are women.
No journalists were jailed in North America at the time of the census deadline. However, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a partner of CPJ, recorded 56 arrests and detentions of journalists across the U.S. during 2021. Eighty-six percent occurred during protests. In Canada, two journalists arrested while covering land rights protest in northern British Columbia spent three nights in custody before a court ordered their conditional release.

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Turkey is the ‘sixth worst jailer of journalists’ in 2021, shows CPJ report

İstanbul

'Once the worst jailer of journalists...'

Findings of note from the report