Journalists in South Asia face "severe risks" amid escalating violence in the region, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a report released in the Philippines Monday. Attacks on media workers in Sri Lanka and Pakistan have increased and four other countries in the region - Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and India - also qualified for the CPJs "impunity index."
The index, launched last year, lists countries where journalists are routinely killed or attacked and where governments have failed to solve the crimes. "South Asian journalists face particularly severe risks. The regions nations make up nearly half of CPJs index," said the report, released in Manila to mark the fourth anniversary of the murder of Marlene Esperat, a local journalist killed for reporting on official corruption. Iraq, Sierra Leone and Somalia topped the list for the second year running, with a total of 103 journalists killed since 1999.
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