International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists
Date/Time
Date(s) - 02/11/2024
12:00 am
Categories
2 November is International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. The Israel-Gaza war has taken an unprecedented toll on Gazan journalists since Israel declared war on Hamas following its attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.
As of 26 November 2024, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 137 journalists and media workers were among the more than tens of thousands killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon since the war began, making it the deadliest period for journalists since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) began gathering data in 1992.
Ending impunity for crimes against journalists is one of the most important and complex challenges of recent times. It is an essential precondition to guarantee freedom of expression and access to information for all citizens.
With the rise of conflicts and other crises, the 2024 observance seeks to promote a broader discussion on the safety of journalists working in these contexts, including the prevention, protection and prosecution concerns of journalists affected by such challenges.
Many journalists, media professionals, and associated media personnel exercise their duties in highly dangerous contexts. Too many pay an unacceptably high price, including death, enforced disappearance, torture, unlawful detention, and kidnapping, for producing independent, reliable, and verifiable information.
Journalists reporting from crisis- and conflict-zones face severe threats in carrying out their critical work. While from 2017 onwards UNESCO recorded gradual decreases in media workers killed in conflict zones, more recently the trend has been reversed. UNESCO’s monitoring in 2023 recorded more than 50% of journalist killings occurred in crisis- and conflict-zones, with continuously high numbers in the first half of 2024.
Image: Journalists covering a terrorist attack in Kenya. Reporters face many dangers in trying to cover stories and expose wrongdoing. Photo:©UNESCO/Enos Teche