A/HRC/19/55 50. Women journalists and media professionals working on human rights issues also appear to be exposed to risks as a result of their work. This group includes women investigative journalists working on human rights-related issues, women columnists advocating human rights reform, women reporters monitoring and reporting on violations of human rights and women bloggers (see A/HRC/16/44). Of the 206 communications sent during the reporting period, women journalists and media professionals were the subject of 41 communications or about 20 per cent of the cases (the Americas 11, Asia Pacific 9, Middle East and North Africa 9, Africa 6, Europe and Central Asia 6). These women were mostly summoned by the police and arrested in connection with their activities and criminally charged, often for defamation. They also received threats, including death threats, their offices were raided and their freedom of movement was unduly restricted. (c) Main perpetrators: State actors 51. Of the 206 communications sent during the reporting period, in 138 communications (67 per cent) the alleged perpetrator was connected to the State, including local, regional or national Government officials, police authorities, members of the army, immigration officials and members of national intelligence. By region, allegations received indicate that perpetrators tend more often to be State actors in the Middle East and North Africa region (53 out of 56 cases – 94.6 per cent), most notably in the Islamic Republic of Iran (22), followed by Africa (32 out of 39 – 82 per cent), Asia Pacific (25 out of 43 – 58.1 per cent), Europe and Central Asia (17 out of 32 – 53.1 per cent) and the Americas (11 out of 36 – 30.5 per cent). 52. According to the information received by the mandate holder during the period, those journalists and media workers who continue to suffer more at the hands of State actors are the ones exposing human rights violations by the State, who have advocated for the transparency of public institutions or demanded the accountability of public officials. Certain States continue to claim that reports of alleged human rights abuses by members of Government or statements critical of the human rights impact of Government security policies constitute information whose publication could be a threat to national security. In this regard, laws restricting printing and publication are still used to curtail the freedom of the press. Any opinion perceived to differ from State ideology continues to be branded as a security concern and used as a justification to unduly restrict the right to freedom of opinion and expression (see, for example, A/58/380). 53. Attacks on journalists and media workers are becoming ever more serious in nature, and non-State actors seem to be more and more active in this respect. Terrorist organizations, gangs, drug-traffickers, and extremist religious and political groups have added themselves to the list of those committing abuses and violations against journalists and media workers who act as human rights defenders. In this connection, of the 206 communications sent during the reporting period, 17 communications referred to violations committed by non-State actors, of which a large part were sent to countries in the Americas (13) but also in the Asia Pacific region (2) and Europe and Central Asia (2). 54. During this period, the mandate holder also sent 41 communications with allegations of violations perpetrated by unknown groups or individuals, mostly in the Americas (12), followed by countries in the Asia Pacific region (11), Africa (7), Europe and Central Asia (9) and the Middle East and North Africa (2). (d) Overview by region 55. In the African region, the type of activities carried out by journalists and media workers allegedly targeted were monitoring demonstrations; exercising their right to freedom of opinion and expression; or working on impunity, corruption, women’s rights, human rights violations committed by the State, environmental issues and democracy. In 10