International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2 November as the ‘International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists’. The Resolution A/RES/68/163 urged United Nations Member States to implement definite measures countering the present culture of impunity. The date was chosen in commemoration of the assassination of two French journalists in Mali on 2 November 2013. This landmark resolution condemns all attacks and violence against journalists and media workers.
FORUM: International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists 2020 “Strengthening investigations and prosecutions to end impunity for crimes against journalists”
The United Nations urges Member States to do their utmost to prevent violence against journalists and media workers, to ensure accountability, bring to justice perpetrators of crimes against journalists and media workers, and ensure that victims have access to appropriate remedies. It further calls upon States to promote a safe and enabling environment for journalists to perform their work independently and without undue interference.
Statement by the United Nations Secretary-General on International Day to End Impunity against Journalists 2020; November 2nd.
On this year’s International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, the world, including the media, faces an entirely new challenge: COVID-19.
The pandemic has highlighted new perils for journalists and media workers, even as the number of attacks on their physical safety has grown. There were at least 21 attacks on journalists covering protests in the first half of 2020 – equal to the number of such attacks in the whole of 2017. There have also been additional constraints on the work of journalists, including threats of prosecution, arrest, imprisonment, denial of journalistic access and failures to investigate and prosecute crimes against them.
When journalists are targeted, societies as a whole pay a price. If we do not protect journalists, our ability to remain informed and make evidence-based decisions is severely hampered. When journalists cannot do their jobs in safety, we lose an important defence against the pandemic of misinformation and disinformation that has spread online.
Fact-based news and analysis depend on the protection and safety of journalists conducting independent reporting, rooted in the fundamental tenet: “journalism without fear or favour”.
As the world fights the COVID-19 pandemic, I reiterate my call for a free press that can play its essential role in peace, justice, sustainable development and human rights.
Statement by the Director-General of UNESCO on International Day to End Impunity against Journalists 2020; November 2nd.
One of the most important roles of journalists is to bring truth to light. This means identifying, assembling and verifying facts, and then accurately reporting their meaning. It places journalists in a unique and compelling position where, in the words of United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, they can “speak truth to power”.
For too many journalists, however, telling the truth comes at a price. Truth and power do not always see eye to eye– between 2010 and 2019, close to 900 journalists were killed while doing their job, more than 150 in the last two years alone. Many have lost their lives while covering conflicts, but far more are being killed outside of conflict situations, for investigating issues such as corruption, trafficking, political wrongdoing, Human rights violations and environmental issues.
Death is not the only risk journalists face: attacks on the press can take the form of threats, kidnappings, arrests, imprisonments or harassment – offline and online, and targeting women in particular. While we can take some solace in the fact that the 2019 death toll for journalists was the lowest in a decade, these wider attacks are continuing at an alarming rate, and the COVID-19 crisis has led to new risks for media workers around the world. We can and should do more. In seven out of eight killings, the perpetrators of these crimes go unpunished. Journalists are essential in preserving the fundamental right to freedom of expression, guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. When journalists are attacked with impunity, there is a breakdown in security and judicial systems for all. States therefore have an obligation to protect journalists and ensure that the perpetrators of crimes against them are held accountable. Judges and prosecutors in particular have an important role to play in promoting swift and effective criminal proceedings. To this end, UNESCO has trained nearly 17,000 judicial operators in recent years, including on issues of impunity, and is developing guidelines in partnership with the International Association of Prosecutors to assist prosecutors in investigating crimes and attacks against journalists.
To raise awareness and support these actions, UNESCO commemorates the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists every year on 2 November. This year, our #EndImpunity campaign is highlighting some of the specific risks that journalists face in their quest to uncover the truth. On this day, I call on everyone to join the campaign, and on all Member States and international and non-governmental organizations to join forces to guarantee the safety of journalists and root out impunity. Only by investigating and prosecuting crimes against media professionals can we guarantee access to information and freedom of expression. Only by speaking truth to power can we advance peace, justice and sustainable development in our societies.
Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO.
Events
The World Press Freedom Conference 2020 on 9 and 10 December 2020, convened by UNESCO and the Kingdom of the Netherlands celebrates jointly World Press Freedom Day (3 May) and the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (2 November) in a new, innovative format, merging digital and in-person elements. The session on 10 December 2020, entitled “Strengthening investigations and prosecutions to end impunity for crimes against journalists” will include the presentation of guidelines for prosecutors on investigating and prosecuting crimes and attacks against journalists, developed in partnership with the International Association of Prosecutors.
CAMPAIGN: Join the fight for reporters, media workers, and journalists safety. >> Download campaign materials
Trafficking, abuse of power, human rights violations, environmental crimes, police violence. Journalists expose the abuses that impact us all. They stand up to power and inform us, sometimes at the cost of their own lives. That's why we must stand up for them.