UNITED NATIONS: The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) says that, between 2006 and 2017, over 1,000 journalists were killed for reporting the news and bringing information to the public, an average of one death in every four days.
On Wednesday, the experts, including David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and Bernard Duhaime, Chair of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, released a statement ahead of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, on 2 November, United Nations news reported.
In nine out of ten cases the killers go unpunished, and this impunity, say the UN experts, triggers further violence and attacks, perpetrators must be brought to justice, and victims and families should have the access to remedies.
High-level international commitments already exist, such as a resolution on the safety of journalists, adopted by the Human Rights Council in September. The UN experts called on world leaders to implement such resolutions and end their role in inciting hatred and violence against the media.
The experts highlighted the killing earlier this month of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and condemned the response of States, the international community and the United Nations itself, for the failure to address his enforced disappearance and apparent murder.
On this year's International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, UNESCO is launching a new campaign, Truth Never Dies, to raise awareness of this situation, and is calling for media partners to support the initiative by publishing stories by, and about, journalists killed as a result of their work.