Impunity
The murder of a journalist is the ultimate form of censorship, yet the perpetrators of such crimes are seldom held to account. More than a decade 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 — eight out of ten journalist murders remain unsolved. This persistent lack of justice for murdered journalists is a major threat to press freedom and the public’s right to information. CPJ seeks justice for these slain journalists, including full and timely investigations and the convictions of all responsible for ordering and carrying out the murders.
Championing justice for journalists: The Impunity Action List
CPJ’s Impunity Action List sets out the essential steps for authorities to champion justice for journalists. The list is informed by numerous investigations of contexts with entrenched impunity, individual cases, and reports on trends that CPJ has conducted individually or with partner organizations, and provides a roadmap for champions of press freedom determined to overcome impunity.
Justice out of reach for many journalists’ murders
1053
journalists have been murdered*
842
murdered journalists have received no justice*
50
murdered journalists have achieved full justice*
Since 1992, at least 1053 journalists have been deliberately targeted for their work, which CPJ defines as “Murder.” The vast majority, 842 of those journalists, have had no justice: no one has been convicted for the murder and complete impunity has prevailed. Many of those murdered covered stories that put them in the crosshairs of those in power, whether in governments, businesses, or armed forces. More than half reported on politics; nearly one-third covered corruption or war.
Only 50 have achieved full justice, meaning all perpetrators involved in the murder–from the masterminds who ordered it, through to those who carried out the killing–have been convicted.
*Since CPJ began keeping records in 1992, based on data available on October 23, 2026.
Journalists still waiting for justice
Ahmed Hussein-Suale Divela
Divela feared for his life after being threatened and doxed following his report on corruption in the Ghana Football Association. After two men on a motorcycle shot and killed him in 2019, his brothers were threatened for speaking out about his murder. Suspects in the case were arrested, then released.
Javier Valdez Cárdenas
Cárdenas covered crime and corruption in Sinaloa, one of Mexico’s most violent states, before being dragged from his car and shot to death in 2017 near the offices of Riodoce, the investigative weekly he co-founded. In 2011 Cárdenas was honored with CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award.
Shireen Abu Akleh
Abu Akleh, a veteran reporter known across the Middle East, was covering an Israeli army operation in the West Bank, and was wearing a “Press” vest when she was shot in the head in 2022. While multiple investigations concluded she was killed by a member of the Israel Defense Forces, a reported FBI investigation into her murder has stalled, and no one has been held accountable.
Ján Kuciak
Kuciak, who reported on corruption and tax fraud, was shot and killed in 2018 along with his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, at their home outside the capital, Bratislava. A nationwide outcry followed their killings, but the prime suspect, a business executive that Kuciak had written about, and had threatened the journalist, has been acquitted twice and awaits a retrial.
Gerry Ortega
Ortega used his radio show to expose government corruption and to advocate for environmental causes on the island of Palawan. He was shot following his morning broadcast in 2011. Over the years, multiple arrest warrants were issued for the alleged mastermind of Ortega’s murder, but he has never been convicted.
All journalists murdered
CPJ has been collecting data on journalists murdered for their work since 1992. Visit our database to learn more.
Featured photo: Photographers take pictures of the damaged camera of late Reuters visuals journalist Issam Abdallah during a joint press conference by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International in Beirut on December 7, 2023. (Photo: AFP)