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A UNESCO-led campaign in Mexico City, marking the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, highlighted the dangers journalists face and the urgent need to combat impunity.
November 22, 2024 – UNESCO, Mexico –
The International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists campaign has arrived in Mexico, and users are calling to raise their voices.
In the heart of Mexico City, a unique message was displayed on more than 570 screens in 70 subway stations during a week. A headline about a journalistic investigation into an escape from a detention centre is followed by phrases and the fact that every four days a journalist is killed worldwide for reporting stories like this. Millions of residents in the city are being reminded that “There is more news behind the news.”
This sombre reminder that justice remains out of reach for too many journalists is part of a global campaign for the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists (IDEI), designed by UNESCO and implemented in the country joint with the Mexico Office of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC).
“Journalism is essential for a free society, for a democracy,” commented Sergio Murueta Ávalos, a 70-year-old industrial engineer and resident of Mexico City, sharing his opinion on the campaign. He added that it is urgent to support them because “they are the voice of society.”
Threats and attacks against journalists are also attacks on the free circulation of information, which can be vital in climate or health emergencies. Journalists often suffer damage to their editorial sites, physical assaults, detentions, confiscation of materials, media blockades, smear campaigns, and even kidnapping, torture, enforced disappearance, and murder.
The Observatory of Murdered Journalists estimates 1,721 murders worldwide as acts of repression against journalism since 1993, of which 163 are murders of journalists in Mexico.
Marlene, one of the 3.4 million daily metro users in Mexico City, spoke about the courage of journalists in sharing the truth, often debunking false or malicious information, and she pointed to the prevalence of a situation that “no está chido” (is not cool), a typical phrase of the country, particularly for the chilangos, the natives of what was formerly known as the Federal District, and a tense used by the young woman to describe an unsustainable situation.
The rate of impunity for crimes against journalists has decreased over the years. It went from 95% in 2012 to 85% in 2024. However, four years is the average time it takes for cases resolved to get to that stage”, highlights the 2024 Report of the Director-General on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity. “Four years is a long time for cases to be resolved”.
“It is something worrying. Here, we would ask for tougher laws for those types [perpetrators] at any level… Whoever it is, because this must stop,” said Erminia Luque Coqui, a 66-year-old educational psychologist from Mexico City, after watching the campaign video broadcast from November 4 to 10 on the screens of the Collective Transportation System Metro.
Warning that everyone may have their own story and suspicions may arise, she reiterated that journalists are essential in a free country and where justice is required: “To me, they are professional detectives at every level.”
Thus, Erminia called for supporting journalists and “making noise”:
“People do not function as long as we remain apathetic or silent. No! That is not acceptable. We are tired of this impunity.”
The International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists is observed every November 2 and was adopted in 2013 by the United Nations General Assembly through Resolution A/RES/68/163, which urges Member States to implement definitive measures to counter the current culture of impunity.
The theme of IDEI 2024, the safety of journalists in crises and emergencies, is an opportunity to reaffirm commitments to promote and guarantee freedom of expression worldwide, strengthen international cooperation to ensure their safety and engage stakeholders for solutions.
https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/let-us-raise-our-voices-journalists