Journalism is a risky profession, whichever way you look at it. All you have to do is write something that irks someone with power or influence and your life could be at risk.
In fact, one of the first things that they teach you in journalism is that “no story is worth your life”. Journalists are told to step away if they feel that the story they are covering could be a threat to their very lives. But journalists all over the world live on the very edge of life, earning the wrath of everyone from Governments to corrupt businessmen as a result of the stories they do and tell. Sometimes they pay the ultimate price for bravely exposing the truth. And journalists who report on wars and conflicts are sometimes targeted even when they are wearing a “Press” badge. In fact, several journalists have already lost their lives in the Ukraine War.
Here in Sri Lanka too, several journalists including Sunday Leader Lasantha Wickrematunga were killed in the course of their work and many others assaulted. Almost none of these cases has been resolved and the perpetrators brought to justice. This impunity enjoyed by those who commit the heinous crime of murdering journalists is a global problem. Sometimes the investigations come to a successful end, only for the authorities to look the other way while the perpetrators walk free. This has happened here as well. The global situation with regard to crimes against journalists is so serious that the United Nations even has a separate day to address it.
Definite measures
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed November 2 as the ‘International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists’ in General Assembly Resolution A/RES/68/163. 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 also calls upon States to promote a safe and enabling environment for journalists to perform their work independently and without undue interference. Press freedom can only work if journalists and media workers themselves are free from attacks and intimidation that hinder their work.
Between 2006 and 2020, over 1,200 journalists have been killed for reporting the news and bringing information to the public. In nine out of ten cases the killers go unpunished, according to the UNESCO observatory of killed journalists. Impunity leads to more killings and is often a symptom of worsening conflict and the breakdown of law and judicial systems.
Countless threats
While killings are the most extreme form of media censorship, journalists are also subjected to countless threats - ranging from kidnapping, torture and other physical attacks to harassment, particularly in the digital sphere. Threats of violence and attacks against journalists, in particular, create a climate of fear for media professionals, impeding the free circulation of information, opinions and ideas for all citizens. Women journalists are particularly impacted by threats and attacks, notably by those made online. According to UNESCO’s discussion paper, The Chilling: Global trends in online violence against women journalists, 73 percent of the women journalists surveyed said they had been threatened, intimidated and insulted online in connection with their work.
No proper investigation
In many cases, threats of violence and attacks against journalists are not properly investigated. This impunity emboldens the perpetrators of the crimes and at the same time has a chilling effect on society, including journalists themselves. UNESCO has expressed concern that impunity damages whole societies by covering up serious human rights abuses, corruption, and crime. On the other hand, justice systems that vigorously investigate all threats of violence against journalists send a powerful message that society will not tolerate attacks against journalists.
Meanwhile, the UNESCO Director-General’s Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity for 2020 to 2021 was published on Wednesday, November 2, the date of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.
UNESCO reported 117 journalist killings worldwide from 2020 to 2021. In 2020, there were 62 journalists killed, a figure which declined to 55 in 2021, the lowest since 2008 when a total of 46 were reported killed. While the number was a positive development, 2022 may be seeing the number rise again, with 66 already recorded to have been killed as of September 2022. Note that 2020 and 2021 were pandemic years, in which lockdowns around the world restricted activity.
Statistics
Seventy-eight percent or 91 of the 117 killings occurred while journalists were away from their immediate working spaces or working assignments. “Most were killed in the privacy of their own home or while travelling,” the report said.
The year 2021 also saw the first time that cross-platform, multimedia journalists became the largest group of victims. From 2012 to 2020, TV journalists made up the biggest victim group. In 2020 and 2021, the Latin America and Carribean region was found to have the most killings with 45, followed by Asia and the Pacific with 38, accounting for 38 percent and 32 percent of all killings worldwide. The year 2012 recorded the highest number of journalists killed in a year at 124 since 2006, the first year that UNESCO started tracking. Central and Eastern Europe had three murders in 2021, the same number as Western Europe and North America.
A “worrying development”
UNESCO also called the rise in the percentage of women journalists killed in 2021 a “worrying development.”
Six percent of the killings in 2020 were women journalists, a figure which rose to 11 percent in 2021. UNESCO said, this “may be a reflection of women journalists being subject to online gender- based attacks which often spill over into offline violence, putting their safety at risk.”
The trend has so far continued in 2022, with 11percent of the killings identified as women journalists as well.
A more positive development is the slight decrease in impunity for crimes committed against journalists. In 2018, 89 percent of journalists murders were unresolved. In 2022, the figure slightly improved to 86 percent. “UNESCO, therefore, continues to observe a five-year upward trend of resolved cases worldwide from 11percent in 2018 to 14 percent in 2022,” the report said.
Overall, in nine out of ten cases the killers go unpunished, according to the UNESCO observatory of killed journalists. Impunity leads to more killings and is often a symptom of worsening conflict and the breakdown of law and judicial systems.
In many cases and even in many Western countries, threats of violence and attacks against journalists are not properly investigated. This impunity emboldens the perpetrators of the crimes and at the same time has a chilling effect on society, including journalists themselves.
Challenges
But despite the achievements made with regard to investigations in some countries, challenges still exist. The high rate of impunity for crimes against journalists persists and new forms of threats develop in an unprecedented way.
Journalists “are coming under increasing attack around the world, and this includes reporting in conflict zones,” said Scott Griffen, deputy director of the International Press Institute, a global press freedom organization based in Vienna. Human rights laws apply to journalists and are intended to protect them, Griffen explains.
“Journalists, like civilians, are never legitimate targets in a conflict zone, and so this would mean that a deliberate attack on a journalist would be a violation of international law and those responsible would need to be held to account.”
In addition, there is a large number of resolutions by various UN bodies, along with other fundamental protections for press freedom including international treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, says Griffen.
Journalists and media houses cannot afford to hire bodyguards to protect themselves – Governments and media regulatory authorities worldwide must ensure a safe environment for journalists to work without fear and also end the impunity for crimes committed against journalists.
These journalists who laid down their lives to tell the truth will never come back, but taking these steps will at least ensure their legacy and a worry-free environment for their colleagues to carry on their critical mission.