Middle East countries heavily criticised for treatment of journalists in 2015

Fewer journalists were imprisoned in 2015 than previous years but the number held hostage has jumped, a media rights group said on Tuesday in an annual report.

While China was heavily criticised for having the most journalists behind bars, Egypt - where 24 people were being held - was the second worst globally, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said.

Syria, meanwhile, was named as the country with the highest number of reporters in the hands of militant or criminal groups. 

Fifty-four professional journalists were held hostage in 2015, an increase of 35 percent from last year, with 26 being held in Syria, RSF said. The Islamic State group alone is holding 18 journalists, largely in Syria and Iraq. 

"A full-blown hostage industry has developed in certain conflict zones," RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said, highlighting Yemen as the newest problem country for reporters, with 33 journalists kidnapped by Houthi militias and al-Qaeda in 2015, compared with just two the previous year. Of these, 13 were still being held. 

"We are very alarmed by the increase in the number of reporters held hostage in 2015. The phenomenon is above all linked to the big surge in abductions of journalists in Yemen," Deloire added.

Lawless Libya had the largest number of journalists reported missing this year, with eight members of the press unaccounted for, and a political climate that "makes it harder to conduct investigations to locate missing journalists".

In terms of overall media freedom, Syria fared worst in the region coming in 177^th place out of 180. Sudan meanwhile came in 174th place, Yemen 168th, Bahrain 163rd and Egypt 158^th. Israel came in 101^st place while Kuwait did the best by being scored 90^th.

Turkey, which came in 149^th place, has also been blasted by RSF for having 14 journalists in jail.

“The Turkish authorities are targeting the wrong enemy,” Deloire said during a press conference in early December.

“The judicial system seems to prosecute journalists more often than the accomplices of Daesh [Islamic State]. Turkey is a great country, with democratic institutions and a very open civil society. We appeal to the government, as a matter of honour, to restore all the conditions of pluralism, starting with freedom for journalists.”

Imprisoned Turkish journalists sent letters

Members of the G9 Journalists Platform, which claims that 32 Turkish journalists are currently in jail, on Monday begun a campaign to send letters to 32 journalists imprisoned in Turkey, aimed at pressuring the government to do more. Some of the 32 people may include media workers not considered strictly journalists by RSF.

Representatives of the international body gathered in Ankara on Monday and wrote the letter to the journalists, including Cumhuriyet editor-in-chief Can Dundar and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul, who were imprisoned for their reporting on Turkish security services transferring weapons into Syria.

Also present at the event was opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) general secretary Gursel Tekin.

Oznur Dundar, the mother of Can Dündar, wrote in a letter: “My son, I joined a ‘write a letter’ campaign. I learned that you have washed your clothes. I hug you with love and longing.”