DUSHANBE, November 3, 2014, Asia-Plus – The United Nations marked the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists’ (IDEI) yesterday for the first time.
A report from the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has decried the killing of journalists with no consequences.
“Our research has found that such impunity emboldens the killers and silences the press,” the report reads.
Over the 10-year period from 2004 to 2013, it found, “370 journalists have been killed and in 90% of cases there has been no convictions for those crimes. Murder cases that are not investigated and remain unsolved … constitute the greatest threat to freedom of the press today.”
The United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/68/163 at its 68th session in 2013, which proclaimed November 2 as the ‘International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists’ (IDEI). The Resolution urged 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. It also 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.
The focus on impunity of this resolution stems from the worrying situation that over the past decade, more than 700 journalists have been killed for bringing news and information to the public.
