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According to UN human rights chief Volker Türk, 958 journalists have been murdered in the past ten years.

Over the same period, more than 1,000 were locked up in prisons, the high commissioner said Friday at the start of a conference on the protection of journalists in Vienna. “The numbers are unacceptable,” Türk said in a video link from Geneva.

The conference was organized by the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the UN Action Plan for the Security of Journalists.

Türk considers it a success that some 50 countries have created or strengthened mechanisms to protect media workers as part of the action plan. The average number of murders has decreased in recent years. However, much greater efforts are needed. “Any threat to a journalist is a threat to their right, my right and all our rights to information, opinion and freedom of expression,” Türk emphasized.

Türk called for action against harassment lawsuits and restrictions on spyware used to target the media. The authorities should also take more active action against violence, he said. Since 2006, only 13 percent of murders in the media have been successfully prosecuted. (sda/dpa)