Nearly half of the world's missing journalists are victims of enforced disappearance

As the first World Congress on Enforced Disappearances begins in Geneva, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) — which will attend the event — calls on the world's nations to prioritise the universal ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. According to RSF’s figures, governments are responsible for 45 per cent of the world’s missing journalists.

On a global scale, it is clear that press freedom is threatened by the very individuals who should be protecting it: political authorities. This observation, highlighted in RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index, is illustrated by the stark reality that nearly half of all missing journalists were abducted by ruling forces.

Of the 95 journalists missing to date, 43 were victims of enforced disappearance. International law defines this type of disappearance as the deprivation of an individual’s liberty by an official authority that refuses to either acknowledge this deprivation or reveal the fate and whereabouts of the person concerned.

"It’s hard to imagine that nations that are meant to protect press freedom are, in fact, the very forces orchestrating the disappearances of journalists — or turning a blind eye. And yet at least 43 journalists in the world today are victims of enforced disappearance. By taking part in this first congress, RSF is proud to commit to the universal ratification of the United Nations Convention against Enforced Disappearances, to investigate and report on these cases, and to work with national and international justice systems to punish the perpetrators and compensate the victims.

Antoine Bernard,
RSF’s Director of Advocacy and Assistance


Here are several emblematic cases of journalists who fell victim to enforced disappearance:

The latest case: Habib Marouane Camara in Guinea

Marouane Camara, managing director of the news website Le Révélateur 224, was arrested by military police on 3 December 2024 and taken to an unknown location; no reason was given for his arrest. His family has had no news of him since. A vocal critic of Guinea's ruling junta, the journalist was on his way to Lambanyi, a district of the capital Conakry, when a military police truck intercepted his vehicle. Armed men in military attire smashed his car’s windshield, dragged him out, and took him away.

More:
https://rsf.org/en/nearly-half-world-s-missing-journalists-are-victims-enforced-disappearance