End impunity for crimes against journalists
BorneoPost Online, 2 November 2014 - by Phyllis Wong
THE United Nations has designated today (Nov 2) as the ‘International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.’
Journalists are exposed to dangers and grave risks of death in their jobs now more than ever before. More and more of them are being incarcerated and executed worldwide. They are threatened, intimidated and attacked by quarters who fear the truths they are reporting.
The World Editors Forum (WEF) said the overwhelming majority of these crimes are committed with impunity and that those responsible for nine out of 10 journalist murders go unpunished.
For the first time a globalised, coordinated effort under UN’s plan of action to address the safety of journalists has been launched to address the seriousness of the safety of journalists and the threat of impunity on media freedom.
The proposed plan of actions aims to create a free and safe environment for journalists, both in conflict and non-conflict situations with a view to strengthening peace, democracy and development worldwide.
Its measures include establishment of coordinated inter-agency mechanism to handle issues related to safety of journalists and assisting countries to develop legislation and mechanisms favourable to freedom of expression and information.
The column today is dedicated to this cause with messages from the leading editors of WEF which is the leading network for print and digital editors of newspapers and news organisations around the world.
WEF president Erik Bjerager, also editor-in-chief and managing director of Kristeligth Dagblad, Denmark, said the plan of action is highly ambitious though the implementation phase is stalling.
“It is important for an industry usually averse to introspection to acknowledge the deaths of journalists who have died in pursuit of the news that feeds our work.
“Recent atrocities have catapulted the deaths of two American journalists in particular onto front pages worldwide, yet the murders of James Foley and Steven Sotloff – however horrendous – remain just two of 40 deaths so far this year.
“There has never been a more dangerous time for journalists. They are being killed and imprisoned worldwide in record numbers. They face daily threats, attacks and intimidation from private individuals, non-state actors, and government officials who seek to silence them.
“Crucially, the overwhelming majority of these crimes are committed with impunity – those responsible for nine out of 10 journalist murders go unpunished.
“If impunity for crimes against journalists is allowed to persist, then it will devastate our ability to understand the complex issues that increasingly concern our globalised world.
“A free, safe environment for the media to operate is, therefore, essential to combat this, and on the International Day to End Impunity, the UN’s Plan of Action to address the safety of journalists once again looks to engage all sectors of society in the urgent matter of making this environment a reality.”
Zaffar Abbas, editor of Dawn newspaper in Pakistan, said Pakistan is one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, a number of whom travel only in armour-plated bullet-proof vehicles and in some cases, with armed security escorts.
“A couple of them have survived assassination attempts. They, along with the others, continue to receive death threats from various quarters, mainly Islamists or ethnic militant groups.
“These poorly paid journalists, often with little or no training of how to operate in hostile environments, are constantly in the line of fire.
“Most of the over 100 journalists and media workers killed in the last decade came from this vulnerable lot. Some died because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time, others because they were ill-trained to cover incidents like bomb explosions.
“But the vast majority were targeted because an armed militant group, or the security agencies, did not like their work and decided to silence them.
“The fact that in all these years, the killers of only two journalists – Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl and Geo TV reporter Wali Khan Babar – have been brought to justice is enough to suggest this culture of impunity will continue.”
In Kenya, the First Lady stormed the newsroom of the country’s largest media house nine years ago and tried to slap a journalist – as related by Joseph Odino, former editorial director of National Media Group, Nairobi, Kenya.
He noted: “Various questions were asked about her sense of decorum and the powers of the president’s family. Less prominent in the public discussion was a question: what if the First Lady had a gun and had gone on to use it?”
Odino said attacks on reporters and photographers covering conflict had recently forced media houses in Kenya to make rot helmets, flack jackets and the occasional gas mask part of newsroom equipment.
“Whether the threat to journalists is driven by conflict or political intolerance, the place of journalism, and the media of which it is the lifeblood, has to be recognised and secured for the sake of national stability.”
Odino concluded that a society where media professionals feel threatened because of their work will forever remain a fertile ground for bad government, and strife and all-out violence.
According to a report issued by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), governments are falling short in their efforts to combat impunity in the killing of journalists – with 90 per cent of murderers walking free.
The report – the road to justice: breaking the cycle of impunity in the killing of journalists – argues that governments have failed to take “meaningful” action to reduce the high rate of targeted violence and impunity against journalists.
In the past decade, 370 journalists have been murdered in direct retaliation for their work.
Most were local journalists reporting on corruption, crime, human rights politics or war.
But there were very, very few arrests for convictions of perpetrators.
“The unchecked, unsolved murders of journalists who seek to inform their societies and the world is one of the greatest threats that continues to bedevil press freedom,” the report said.
The CPJ has urged UN and regional inter-governmental bodies to take firm action to hold member states accountable to their commitments to combat impunity.
And on their part, journalists are called upon to monitor and report on whether such pledges are being honoured and implemented.
At home in Malaysia, various journalist bodies are calling for the repeal of the Sedition Act to enable journalists to carry out their duties professionally with no harassment from the authorities or any other quarter.
(The writer is the president of Federation of Sarawak Journalists Association)
