UNESCO: impunity for journalist killings rises to 86%, first increase since 2012

Impunity rises for the first time since 2012

UNESCO published its biennial report on Monday, 2 November 2026, to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. The agency says the overall impunity rate for journalist killings rose by one percentage point to 86%, the first increase since 2012. The rate had fallen from a peak of 95% to 85% in 2024. It counts killings whose investigations have either produced no result or are still under way. According to the report, six of every seven perpetrators of journalist killings have so far escaped justice.

Killings in 2024 and 2025

The report records 189 killings of journalists, media workers and social media content creators doing journalistic work in 2024 and 2025, including 14 women. That total is 20% higher than in the previous two-year period, and UNESCO describes it as the deadliest two-year span in a decade. Of the killings, 127 (67%) took place in countries with armed conflict. UNESCO attributes more than a quarter of all killings in the period to drones, and says journalists continue to be killed in their homes or while wearing the vest that marks their profession.

202492

202597

2024

92

2025

97

Data from the article text

Regional picture and women journalists

The Arab States recorded the highest number of killings with 97, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean with 37 and Asia and the Pacific with 34. Central and Eastern Europe recorded five killings in 2024 and nine in 2025. Palestine recorded the most cases of any single country, with 30 killings in 2024 and 32 in 2025, while Mexico (10) and Yemen (9) followed in 2025. Outside countries with armed conflict, the report counts 62 killings over the two years, the lowest level in 18 years.

Arab States97

Latin America and the Caribbean37

Asia and the Pacific34

Arab States

97

Latin America and the Caribbean

37

Asia and the Pacific

34

Data from the article text

Countries with armed conflict127

Countries without armed conflict62

Countries with armed conflict

127

Countries without armed conflict

62

Data from the article text

The 14 women killed matched the previous period in absolute terms, but their share fell to 7% because total deaths rose, the lowest proportion in a decade. All but one of the women were killed in countries with conflict. The figures therefore show a lower share of women among victims despite a higher overall toll.

UNESCO's position and data limits

Mariya Gabriel, UNESCO's assistant director-general for communication and information, told reporters that investigations and prosecutions of journalist killings in war zones remain inadequate. She added that UNESCO is not a court but presses judicial systems to deliver justice. UNESCO said its figures differ in some cases from those of other organisations, including Reporters Without Borders, because the circumstances of deaths in conflicts can be hard to judge. Since data collection began in 2006, UNESCO has recorded 1,641 journalist killings, or one every four days on average.