<\/p>\n
In a message issued ahead of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, T\u00fcrk said normalising attacks on the media accelerates the decay of freedom, weakening the foundations of peace, security, plus sustainable development.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
T\u00fcrk paid tribute to journalists plus photographers documenting atrocities, exposing corruption, plus scrutinising business practices, while warning that journalism is increasingly insecure. T\u00fcrk cited cases of media workers being bombed in vehicles, abducted from offices, detained, plus dismissed from jobs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At least 14 journalists have been killed since January, according to the UN rights office. Accountability remains rare, with only about a tenth of killings over the past two decades leading to full accountability. Conflict reporting continues to pose the highest risk.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
T\u00fcrk said Israel\u2019s war in Gaza has become a \u201cdeath trap\u201d for media workers, with OHCHR verifying the killing of nearly 300 journalists since October 2023, with many more injured. T\u00fcrk said local reporters often carry the heaviest burden, citing journalists in Sudan working through extreme violence, brutality, plus famine.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
UN Secretary\u2011General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres said recent years have seen a sharp rise in journalists killed in war zones, often through deliberate targeting. Guterres warned that economic pressures, new technologies, plus manipulation are putting press freedom under unprecedented strain.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
T\u00fcrk warned that \u201cvirtually no country is truly safe\u201d for journalists, citing risks linked to corruption reporting, environmental harm reporting, plus organised crime coverage. T\u00fcrk said transnational repression plus surveillance are increasingly targeting media workers, including attacks on Iranian journalists abroad.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
T\u00fcrk highlighted growing misuse of laws on defamation, disinformation, cybercrime, plus terrorism to intimidate journalists. Worldwide, about 330 media workers are detained, alongside about 500 citizen journalists plus human rights bloggers. T\u00fcrk warned that online harassment disproportionately targets women journalists, with about three\u2011quarters reporting abuse, including smear campaigns plus threats of sexual violence.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
T\u00fcrk called for persecution to end, arbitrary restrictions to be lifted, abusive laws to be repealed, plus legal frameworks to align with international human rights standards.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":20890,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-33521","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker T\u00fcrk has warned that attacks on journalists are escalating worldwide, with Lebanon recorded as the deadliest country for media workers so far in 2026 amid the war in the Middle East.","published_date":"","news_description":"United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker T\u00fcrk has warned that attacks on journalists are escalating worldwide, with Lebanon recorded as the deadliest country for media workers so far in 2026 amid the war in the Middle East.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33522,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33521\/revisions\/33522"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=33521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}