At least 361 journalists incarcerated globally in 2024
A report published by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) this week states that five of the six journalists held by authorities in Ethiopia face the death penalty if found guilty of the terrorism charges leveled against them in light of their coverage of the ongoing conflict in the Amhara region.
The sixth journalist, Yeshihasab Abera, was arrested in September 2024 amid escalating tensions in the region and reports of mass arrests of civilians, civil servants, academics, and journalists as part of a government “law enforcement operation” targeting armed groups and their alleged supporters.
Officials have not provided any reason for Yeshihasab’s detention or disclosed any charges against him.
The report, dubbed the CPJ 2024 Prison Census, indicates that often-vague charges or convictions for terrorism or “extremism” make up a significant portion of cases against journalists globally, including in countries like Myanmar, Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Venezuela, Turkey, India, and Bahrain.
“These accusations are commonly leveled against ethnic minority reporters whose work focuses on their communities, with authorities routinely citing journalists’ contact with militant groups – often necessary for news coverage – as evidence of membership in those groups,” reads the report.
It indicates that incitement, defamation, and false news are also charges levelled against journalists.
China, Israel, Myanmar, Belarus, and Russia make up the top five worst offenders in what the report calls a “record-setting year for journalists jailed because of their work.”
At least 361 journalists are incarcerated globally, according to CPJ. The number is slightly lower than the record 370 journalists recorded by CPJ in 2022.
A total of 54 are serving more than 10 years; 55 between five and 10 years, and 62 between one and five years, according to the census. Close to two-thirds were imprisoned “under a range of broad anti-state laws frequently used to stifle independent voices.”
In Africa, Cameroon, Rwanda, Nigeria, Tunisia, and Egypt, which violated its own criminal procedure law with a two-year extension of the incarceration of Egyptian-British blogger Alaa Abdelfattah, are notable offenders, according to the report.
However, Eritrea remained the leading jailer in sub-Saharan Africa, with 16 journalists who were incarcerated between 2000 and 2005 still appearing on CPJ’s 2024 census.
Those held in Eritrea include some of the longest-known cases of journalists imprisoned around the world; no charges against them have ever been disclosed. Globally, the country tied with Iran and Vietnam as the seventh-worst offenders, according to the report.
“[Eritrean] officials, at times, even denied that the journalists existed,” it reads.
The report reveals that many of the journalists included in the census have been sentenced to spend significant parts of their lives in jail.
“Ten have been sentenced to life; one has been sentenced to death,” reads the report.
