Fighting crimes against journalist thing
Today, November 2, is International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, an annual commemoration proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2013. This was after the UN was strongly lobbied by the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), a global network of civil society organisations that defend and promote the right to freedom of expression.
IFEX had in 2011 declared November 23 International Day to End Impunity to commemorate the November 23, 2009 Ampatuan (Municipality) Massacre in the Mindanao Islands of The Philippines. The massacre – also known as the Maguindanao (Province) Massacre – was the single deadliest attack on journalists in recent history, in which 58 individuals were murdered, including 34 journalists and mass media workers.
The massacre took place after otherwise innocent onlookers and the journalists were kidnapped and killed by the Ampatuan Brothers and several others as they were covering/reporting an electoral process for the Maguindanao gubernatorial elections which were part and parcel of the 2010 national elections in The Philippines.
After persistent lobbying by IFEX, the 70th plenary session of the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 68/163, recognising November 2 as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. The date was specifically selected to mark the death of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, two journalists of Radio France Internationale who were killed on duty in Mali, West Africa, in early 2013.
All in all, International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists is intended to draw attention to the low global conviction rate for violent crimes against mass media workers: only one conviction out of ten violent crimes.
Impunity attacks
“As these individuals (journalists) play a critical role in informing and influencing the public about important social issues, impunity for attacks against them has a particularly damaging impact, limiting public awareness and constructive debate,” the UN Resolution reads in part.
In that regard, the Resolution calls on organisations and individuals worldwide “to talk about the unresolved crimes against journalists in their countries, and write to government and intra-governmental officials to demand action and justice”.
To that noble end, Unesco organises an awareness-raising campaign on the findings of the Unesco director general’s biennial Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity.
The report catalogues the responses of nations to Unesco’s formal request for updates on progress in cases of killings of journalists and other media workers.
Also, Unesco and civil society groups throughout the world use November 2 as a launch date for other reports, events and advocacy initiatives relating to the problem of impunity for crimes against freedom of expression. According to the UN, “close to 1,200 journalists have been killed for reporting the news – and bringing information to the public – in the past fourteen years: 2006-2019. In nine-out-of-ten cases, the killers went unpunished. Impunity leads to more killings: often a symptom of worsening conflict and the breakdown of law and judicial systems”.
And, as the European Union says on its official website: “To safeguard our democracies, we must protect journalists...”
Protect Journalists; Protect the Truth is the clarion call today!
