Paris (AFP)

Nearly 90% of those responsible for the murder of journalists between 2006 and 2018 in the world "have not been punished," denounced Thursday in a statement Unesco.

According to a report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, denouncing this impunity, 1,109 journalists were murdered during this period.

In addition, these crimes jumped 18% between 2014 and 2018 compared to the previous five years, the statement said.

"The Arab States region has been the deadliest for the press (30% of murders worldwide), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (26%) and Asia-Pacific (24%)", is -He specifies.

The report is published as part of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, Saturday.

"This year, November 2, the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists will focus on local journalists, and with the #KeepTruthAlive campaign, it will be a question of challenging the idea that the assassinations are happening only far from the public eye, and are mainly aimed at foreign correspondents in war zones, "said the director general of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay in a message for this day.

"Light will be made on local journalists working on issues of corruption and politics outside conflict situations, which have accounted for 93% of the deaths of journalists in the past decade," she adds.

"Unesco is accountable to all those who put journalists at risk, all those who kill journalists, and all those who do nothing to put an end to this violence.The death of a journalist should never sign the end of the quest for truth, "says Ms. Azoulay.

Seminars in Mexico and Uganda, exhibition of press drawings at the UN headquarters in New York, honoring the memory of French journalists Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon murdered in Mali on November 2, 2013: commemorations or events are planned in twenty countries on this occasion.

Unesco works for the safety of journalists through the United Nations action plan on this issue and on impunity.

Since July, it has been administering a new Global Media Fund, created by the United Kingdom and Canada, which announced that they would allocate £ 3 million over five years (approximately $ 3.8 million). US) and one million Canadian dollars ($ 765,000).

This fund must notably make it possible to "strengthen the legal protection of media professionals and finance security training" for those working in conflict zones.

© 2019 AFP