Palestinian journalists during a demonstration. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — Israel has one of the highest rates of journalists detained in its prisons, according to the annual survey published Thursday by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
"Amidst a months-long war, Israel emerged for the first time as one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, with 17 recorded behind bars as of Dec. 1, 2023," reads the press release published by CPJ along with the survey's results.
The results from the latest survey show the highest number of Palestinians held in Israeli jails since CPJ first started conducting the survey in 1992.
As of 2023, the State of Israel is among the top six countries in the world with the most journalists behind bars. It shares the sixth position with Iran, which was first in the ranking in 2022. Both countries have imprisoned at least 17 journalists, according to the report.
Israel finds itself alongside authoritarian regimes known for suppressing freedom of the press. Globally, 320 journalists were imprisoned in connection with their work in the last year. China and Myanmar top the ranking, with 44 and 43 journalists respectively, followed by Belarus, Russia, and Vietnam.
A wave of arrests
"Although Israel has appeared multiple times in the CPJ's annual survey, the number of arrests of Palestinian journalists is the highest," the report notes. It indicates that the detained journalists were arrested in the occupied West Bank after Oct. 7, following the Hamas triple incursion into southern Israel.
“Most of them are placed in administrative detention, allowing Israeli authorities to detain people without charges on the suspicion of intending to commit a future offense,” the report says.
"Israel’s standing in CPJ’s 2023 prison census is evidence that a fundamental democratic norm — press freedom — is fraying as Israel exploits draconian methods to silence Palestinian journalists. This practice must stop,” said Jodie Ginsberg, CPJ's executive director.
The CPJ also reported on Friday that since Oct. 7, the death of 83 journalists and media professionals has been confirmed, including 76 Palestinians, four Israelis, and three Lebanese. “Journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks when trying to cover the conflict in the shadow of the Israeli ground assault, devastating airstrikes, disrupted communications, supply shortages, and widespread power outages,” the CPJ says.
Media repression continues in Iran
In 2022, Iran held the position as "largest jailer of journalists." The Iranian regime had incarcerated 62 journalists as a wave of protests swept through the country, triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16, 2022, three days after her detention by the morality police for an alleged violation of mandatory veiling laws.
A year later, many of these journalists were released on bail "awaiting charges or sentencing."
"This means that the decrease in the number of imprisoned journalists in 2023 is by no means a sign of easing media repression in Iran. On the contrary, authorities responded to the increase in coverage of women's rights by targeting prominent women journalists to set examples," the report says. Of the 17 detained journalists currently behind bars, eight are women.
This year's tally of 320 journalists in prisons around the world is the "second-highest figure ever recorded by the CPJ since the start of the census in 1992." Sixty-five percent of the imprisoned journalists face charges of conspiring against state security.
The CPJ sees its research and findings as an alarming barometer of "how entrenched authoritarianism is globally, with governments emboldened to stamp out critical reporting and prevent public accountability."
This article was originally published in French on L'Orient-Le Jour. English translation by Amelia Hankins.