The murder of a journalist is the ultimate form of censorship, yet the perpetrators of such crimes are seldom held to account. The persistent lack of justice for murdered journalists is a major threat to press freedom. Ten years after the United Nations declared an International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists – and more than 30 years after CPJ began documenting these killings – almost 80% of their killings remain unsolved.
CPJ is seeking justice for these slain journalists, including full and timely investigations and the convictions of all responsible for ordering and carrying out the murders.
Since 2008, CPJ has published its Global Impunity Index, an annual tally of countries where perpetrators of journalists’ murders continue to evade justice. In 15 years, the index has recorded the entrenchment of a pernicious pattern of unpunished murders.
The 2023 index shows rampant impunity continues unabated, with no one convicted in nearly 80% of the 263 cases of journalists murdered. The result: an intimidating effect on local journalists everywhere, corroding press freedom and shrinking independent and investigative reporting.
Read CPJ’s 2023 Impunity Index.
CPJ has recorded the murders of 956 journalists in connection with their work since it began tracking them in 1992. Their stories provide a portrait of injustice. Click through this mosaic to explore.