International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists

The primary function of the media faces numerous obstacles, including threats and crimes that may endanger lives, in addition to restrictions, lack of cooperation, prevention, closure, revocation of media licenses, and misuse of judicial systems in arbitrary ways to target journalists who oppose oppression, murder, kidnapping, torture, and illegal practices.

Therefore, access to information and a complete understanding of events and their implications are at stake, because this affect the work environment.

Latin America and the Caribbean continues to be the region with the highest number of murders of journalists, according to the 2022 UNESCO Director-Generals Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity. Since 1993, more than 1,600 journalists have been killed for reporting the news and bringing information to the public. In nine out of ten cases the killers go unpunished, according to the UNESCO observatory of killed journalists. Impunity leads to more killings and is often a symptom of worsening conflict and the breakdown of law and judicial systems.

The past two years have seen Latin America and the Caribbean (45 killings), and Asia and the Pacific (38 killings) continue to record the largest number of journalist killings according to UNESCO data. In 2020-2021, Latin America and the Caribbean accounted for 38% of killings, followed by Asia and the Pacific with 32% of killings.

The UNESCO publishes an international report on journalist safety and impunity levels every six months, through local reports provided by the 39 Member States of the International Programme for the Development of Communication. Though it remains unacceptably high, impunity for crimes committed against journalists has continuously decreased, by a total of 3% since 2018, the first year of the previous biennium. In 2022, the global impunity rate was measured by UNESCO at 86% compared to 89% in 2018.

In 2020-2021, UNESCO recorded a total of 117 killings of journalists worldwide. Overall, the 2020-2021 biennium saw the lowest number of deaths than any other reporting period since the first publication of this Report in 2008. The year 2021 shows the lowest annual death toll in 14 years with 55 killings. However, it is important to highlight that, although outside of this reporting period, according to the UNESCO’s Observatory of Killed Journalists, this number has risen a total of 87 killed journalists in 2022.

Thus, ending impunity for crimes against journalists is one of the most challenging issues in recent years. International efforts aim to raise awareness of the major challenges faced by journalists and media workers during the performance of their duties. Women journalists are particularly impacted by threats and attacks, notably by those made online. According to UNESCOs discussion paper, The Chilling: Global trends in online violence against women journalists, 73 percent of the women journalists surveyed said they had been threatened, intimidated and insulted online in connection with their work.

The United Nations affirms that protecting journalists is part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by building international coalitions of governments and civil society and served to bring about changes on the ground, such as the creation of national safety mechanisms in at least 50 countries.

Justice systems that vigorously investigate all threats of violence against journalists send a powerful message that society will not tolerate attacks against journalists and against the right to freedom of expression for all.

Article 79 of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Convention states that journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in zones of armed conflict must be protected. Moreover, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1738 regarding the protection of journalists and media professionals in armed conflicts.

The number of journalists imprisoned around the world hit a record of 533 in 2022, up from 488 in 2021, according to a Reporters Without Borders (RSF) annual report at the end of 2022.

The Middle East region faces particularly challenging conditions for journalists, according to RSF, with press freedom issues in some countries in the region requiring serious reconsideration despite government commitments to respecting journalists’ rights.

Yet, the most dangerous violations are those committed by the Israeli occupation forces in Gaza, in parallel with the ongoing aggression by warplanes, where the occupation and its supporters are waging a war on the Palestinian media and content on social media networks, to the extent of almost complete restriction of Palestinian accounts. As a result, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urged field journalists to take necessary precautions, wear professional safety equipment, and not go to the field until the media organizations they work for provide them with such equipment.

Since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, at least 35 journalists have been martyred, in addition to dozens of injured. The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate reveals serious and direct violations since Oct. 7, where nearly 50 homes belonging to the families of Palestinian journalists and the headquarters of 50 media institutions have been targeted.

A report released on June 20 by a United Nations committee concerned with preventing impunity and holding those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law in the occupied Palestinian territories accountable, said that the majority of violations are committed by the authorities of the Israeli entity as part of their objectives to ensure their permanent occupation at the expense of the rights of the Palestinian people.

The UN report said that the government of the Israeli entity had increasingly restricted civic space through a strategy of delegitimizing and silencing civil society. This includes criminalizing Palestinian civil society organizations and their members by labelling them as “terrorists,” pressuring and threatening institutions that give a platform for civil society discourse, actively lobbying donors, and implementing measures intended to cut sources of funding and support.

In this context, we cannot ignore the murder of Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Palestine Shireen Abu Aqla in May 2022, by a sniper affiliated with the Israeli occupying forces during her coverage of an incursion into the city of Jenin.

On the first anniversary of her assassination, investigations conducted by Al Jazeera media network revealed the acknowledgment of a senior official at the office of the former Israeli Defense Minister to American policymakers about the responsibility for Shireen’s killing and claimed that she was killed by mistake.

However, the Israeli entity has not officially declared or admitted to this. This result has also been reinforced by several independent investigations by American news organizations, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Associated Press.

(QNA)

https://www.qna.org.qa/en/News-Area/Special-News/2023-11/02/0030-international-day-to-end-impunity-for-crimes-against-journalists-report