The International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists | |
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Observed by | Worldwide |
Date | 2 November |
Next time | 2 November 2024 |
Frequency | annual |
The International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (IDEI) is a UN-recognized international day observed annually on 2 November.
The day draws attention to the level of impunity for crimes against journalists, which remains extremely high globally. Between 2006 and 2020, over 1,200 journalists have been killed around the world, with close to 9 out of 10 cases of these killings remaining judicially unresolved, according to the UNESCO observatory of killed journalists. [1] As journalists play a critical role in reporting facts to all citizens, impunity for attacks against them has a particularly damaging impact, limiting public awareness and constructive debate. [2]
On 2 November, organizations and individuals worldwide are encouraged to talk about the unresolved cases in their countries, and write to government and intra-governmental officials to demand action and justice. UNESCO organizes 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, [3] which catalogues the responses of states to UNESCO's formal request for updates on progress in cases of killings of journalists and media workers. UNESCO and civil society groups throughout the world also use 2 November as a launch date for other reports, events and other advocacy initiatives relating to the problem of impunity for crimes against freedom of expression.
International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), a global network of civil society organizations that defend and promote the right to freedom of expression, declared 23 November as the International Day to End Impunity in 2011. The anniversary was chosen to mark the 2009 Ampatuan massacre (also known as the Maguindanao massacre), the single deadliest attack against journalists in recent history, in which 57 individuals were murdered, including 32 journalists and media workers.
In December 2013, after substantial lobbying from IFEX members and other civil society defenders of freedom of expression, the 70th plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly passed resolution 68/163, recognizing 2 November as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (IDEI). [4] The date of the UN day marks the death of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, two French journalists killed while reporting in Mali earlier that year.
IFEX now coordinates the No Impunity Campaign, [5] which advocates year-round for all individuals violently targeted for their free expression.
Since 2013, global commemorations of the IDEI continue to serve as a unique opportunity to sensitize and promote a constructive dialogue among all actors involved in fighting impunity for crimes against journalists and media professionals.
The Windhoek Declaration for the Development of a Free, Independent and Pluralistic Press, the Windhoek Declaration for short, is a statement of press freedom principles by African newspaper journalists in 1991. The Declaration was produced at a UNESCO seminar, "Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press," held in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, from 29 April to 3 May 1991.
The United Nations General Assembly declared May 3 to be World Press Freedom Day or just World Press Day, observed to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and marking the anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration, a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in Windhoek in 1991.
IFEX, formerly International Freedom of Expression Exchange, is a global network of more than 120 independent non-governmental organisations that work at a local, national, regional, or international level to defend and promote freedom of expression as a human right.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The American Journalism Review has called the organization, "Journalism's Red Cross." Since late 1980s, the organization has been publishing an annual census of journalists killed or imprisoned in relation to their work.
PEN International is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous International PEN centres in more than 100 countries.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the largest global union federation of journalists' trade unions in the world. It represents more than 600,000 media workers from 187 organisations in 146 countries.
The Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG) is a coalition of 21 free-expression organisations that belong to the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), a global network of non-governmental organisations that promotes and defends the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
Source protection, sometimes also referred to as source confidentiality or in the U.S. as the reporter's privilege, is a right accorded to journalists under the laws of many countries, as well as under international law. It prohibits authorities, including the courts, from compelling a journalist to reveal the identity of an anonymous source for a story. The right is based on a recognition that without a strong guarantee of anonymity, many would be deterred from coming forward and sharing information of public interests with journalists.
The International Programme for the Development of Communication is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) programme aimed at strengthening the development of mass media in developing countries.
The International Publishers Association is an international publishing industry federation of national publisher associations representing book and journal publishing, founded in 1896 in Paris. It is a non-profit and non-governmental organization, to promote and protect publishing and to raise awareness for publishing in the context of economic, cultural and political development. The IPA represents the interests of the publishing industry on an international level.
Abdost Rind , a reporter in Pakistan, was working for the Daily Eagle, an Urdu-language newspaper in the Turbat area of Balochistan, Pakistan, on 18 February, when he became the second journalist killed in Balochistan in 2011.
The 2012 Veracruz murder of journalists is about the disappearance, murder and dismemberment of three journalists and a woman who worked in public relations whose bodies were discovered in Boca del Río, Veracruz, Mexico. Their bodies were recovered from a canal on World Press Freedom Day, or 3 May 2012, and showed signs of torture and mutilation, which prompted calls for investigations into links with organized crime. The gruesome murder followed other murders of members of the press in the Veracruz area and during the Mexican drug war, and highlighted the danger for working journalists.
Marco Antonio Ávila Garcia, a Mexican crime reporter for Diario Sonora de la Tarde in Ciudad Obregón and El Regional de Sonora newspapers in Sonora state, Mexico. He was abducted in Ciudad Obregón and tortured to death by a drug cartel and left on the side of the road near Empalme, which is also in Sonora. Garcia was the fifth journalist killed in 2012 in Mexico, which has become one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, and his murder preceded the 1 July 2012 Mexican elections, in which drug violence had become a major issue.
Abukar Hassan Mohamoud, also known as Kadaf, was a Somali activist and the manager/director for the independent Somaliweyn Radio in Mogadishu, Somalia. At the time of his murder, he had been working on a re-launch of Radio Somaliweyn, which had been attacked and looted by Al-Shabaab in 2010.
José Bladimir Antuna Vázquez García, sometimes referred to only as Bladimir Antuna, was a Mexican crime journalist for El Tiempo de Durango, a newspaper based in Durango, Durango, Mexico. While there was a resolution in the case of Antuna's collaborator Eliseo Barrón Hernández, the murder case of Antuna is still unresolved and reflects the impunity that is widespread among murdered Mexican journalists.
Luis de Jesús Lima was a Guatemalan radio journalist and personality for the Radio Sultana de Oriente in Zacapa, Zacapa Department, Guatemala. He was killed right outside of the station. His death focused the attention given to the safety of Guatemalan journalists.
Safety of journalists is the ability for journalists and media professionals to receive, produce and share information without facing physical or moral threats.
Sustainable Development Goal 16 is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015, the official wording is: "Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels". The Goal has 12 targets and 23 indicators.
Women in media are individuals who participate in media. Media are the collective communication outlets or tools used to store and deliver information or data. The role of women in media revolves around the four axes of media: media freedom, media pluralism, media independence, and media safety. Women in media face the same difficulties and threats as men, and additionally experience gender inequalities, safety issues, or under-representation. Compared to men, women are much less likely to be included in the media globally. According to research, a minimum of twenty-five percent of news on television, radio and in the press mention women as a topic. According to a 2015 survey, only 19% of news experts and 37% of reporters worldwide were women. We recognize the gender-imbalanced perspective of society has the potential to promote and perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes, as behavioral scientists studying the underrepresentation of women in the workforce. It goes without saying that the media must change the way they portray the outside world, but who has the power to change the media itself?
Justice for Journalists Foundation is a non-governmental organization whose mission is to fight impunity for attacks against media. Based in London, its main goal is to protect journalists from the abuse of their right to freedom of expression, increase public awareness about attacks on media workers and provide journalists with the knowledge and skills necessary to protect themselves from professional risks.