[JURIST] The head of the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) [official website], Irina Bokova [official profile], on Monday condemned [press release] the killings of Mexican journalist Moisés Sánchez Cerezo and Japanese freelancer Kenji Goto. Moisés Sánchez Cerezo was the owner and editor of the weekly magazine, La Unión, which he used as a platform to address problems of insecurity in Medellin de Bravo. Cerezo was abducted on January 2, and his body was found on January 24. His abductors had also taken his camera, computer and cell phone. Police officers in the town of Medellin de Bravo were questioned [TIME report] following his disappearance. Bokova called his killing “an unacceptable attack on journalism, a profession that embodies the right of freedom of expression, which is indispensable to democracy.” Kenji Goto was a freelancing journalist who went to Syria to document the impact of the war on civilians in that region. He was captured and killed by members of the Islamic State (IS) [JURIST backgrounder]. A video of his beheading was released on January 31. Bokova called on both the Mexican government and the Japanese government to investigate their deaths and bring their killers to justice. She ended her address urging all journalists in conflict zones “to take all necessary measures for enhancing their safety.”

Journalism is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, with more than 1,000 journalists killed since 1992 and more than 200 journalists imprisoned [CPJ factsheets]. According to a UNESCO report entitled “World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development” [text, PDF], between 2007 and 2012, 430 journalists were killed. In September a group of UN human rights experts, including the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, urged stronger protection for journalists [JURIST report] covering conflicts. In August rights groups declared the execution of US journalist James Foley by IS extremists a war crime [JURIST report]. In July Amnesty International [advocacy website] reported mounting evidence [JURIST report] of abductions and violence against activists, protesters and journalists in eastern Ukraine. Also in July a Myanmar court sentenced [JURIST report] four journalists and the chief executive of the Unity Journal to 10-year prison sentences and hard labor for publishing a story alleging the Myanmar military had seized land in Magwe for the purpose of producing chemical weapons. In May Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] called on [JURIST report] Myanmar to pass more protective media laws and end arbitrary arrests of journalists.