The risks facing journalists, including risks to life, are highlighted every year on November 2, the Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.
This year’s International Day coincides with the biennial report of the Director-General of UNESCO on the safety of journalists and impunity. The report recorded a 38% increase in the number of journalist killings compared to previous studies.
In his message on this day in 2024, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted that Gaza has suffered the highest number of journalists and journalists killed in any war in decades and called on governments to take urgent action to protect journalists and investigate crimes. . Prosecute them and prosecute the perpetrators.
TV correspondent Mustafa Albayed reports from Gaza.
Killing of journalists in Gaza ‘at a level unseen in any modern conflict’
The 2024 United Nations International Media Seminar on Middle East Peace, held annually for the past three decades, has inevitably been dominated by the war in Gaza. We support a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In a statement at the seminar read by Melissa Fleming, the UN’s head of global communications, Guterres said journalists in Gaza had been killed “at levels not seen in any modern conflict,” adding that an international ban remains in place. Yes. Journalists in Gaza “further suffocate the truth.”
The following is an excerpt from comments by Cheikh Niang, Chairman of the United Nations Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and Permanent Representative of Senegal to the United Nations. Guilherme Canela, UNESCO Director of Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists, and Mohammad Ali Alnsour, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Division of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Sheikh Niang: A year has passed since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Palestinian militants followed by Israel’s devastating response in the Gaza Strip.
Since then, access to information has been severely restricted. Journalists have been killed, newsrooms destroyed, foreign media blocked and communications disrupted. The occupying Israeli military has systematically dismantled Palestinian media infrastructure and silenced voices through restrictions, intimidation, targeted killings, and censorship.
Over the past 380 days, more than 130 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. These were the voices reporting on possible war crimes, silenced before their stories were fully told.
Journalists in Gaza continue to report on the humanitarian crisis, often at personal risk, giving the world an accurate picture of the unfolding tragedy. We honor their courage and recognize that their loss silences their stories and severely limits public access to the truth.
Palestinian journalist Mohammad Awad is reporting from the scene. (file)
Guilherme Canella: The UNESCO Director-General’s report on the safety of journalists and issues of impunity found that over the years the number of journalists killed in conflict has declined compared to those killed in other circumstances.
In the case of this report, this is not true. Since the report was published in 2017, the situation in Gaza has completely changed the report. Journalists have been murdered because they tell stories that are relevant to each and every one of us, citizens.
The level of distrust towards media and journalists around the world is truly frightening. This mistrust arises because political leaders, religious leaders, and public figures talk against journalists and against journalism, a fundamental pillar of democratic values and human rights protection.
Mohammad Ali Ansur: The media plays a vital role in initiating the accountability process, starting with recording crimes and violations, investigating them, establishing accountability, and ultimately achieving peace. Unfortunately, this has not happened in the occupied Palestinian territories for the past 40 years. Access issues are not limited to the media or journalists.
Under international humanitarian law, Israel, as an occupying power, has an obligation to protect civilians, including journalists. We are being told by senior politicians and leaders that killing civilians to achieve minor military objectives in the process runs counter to proportionality, principle and military necessity..
International Day for the End of Impunity for Crimes against Journalists
The biennial awareness-raising campaign to mark the International Day for the End of Impunity for Crimes against Journalists is consistent with the findings of a report outlining the state of impunity globally and regionally.
UNESCO is concerned that impunity harms society as a whole by concealing serious human rights violations, corruption and crime. To protect the rule of law, governments, civil society, the media and everyone involved must join global efforts to end impunity.
