Since 1992 over 1000 journalists have been killed while doing their work – an unacceptable death toll of men and women committed to keeping the world informed. This short video by Al Jazeera’s Public Liberties and Human Rights desk for World Press Freedom Day on 3 May is backed by the Association of European Journalists, the International Press Institute, Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Article 19, Reporters Without Borders, IFJ/EFJ, International News Safety Institute, UNESCO, and other organisations committed to defending freedom of expression and media freedom. The world has awoken to the need for strong and urgent action by all concerned – including journalists themselves.
The UN General Assembly has passed a Resolution calling on all States to reform their laws, policing and justice systems to put an end to increasing and systemic violence and intimidation against journalists in many countries. The UN also decided that 2 November will be the International day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.
The UN Action Plan on the Safety of Journalists calls on journalists, media, civil society, governments and inter-governmental organisations – in Europe, Africa, the Americas and everywhere – to work together to end the violent repression of free expression and independent media. Guy Berger, the freedom of expression chief in UNESCO, recently called on media houses to do much more to report and challenge anti-media violence and impunity, in order to save lives and protect the rights of whole populations to be free of censorship, and enjoy their proper rights to be receive and impart information freely and without fear. Read here Guy Berger’s important presentation in London on 7 April.
Read here full details of the ground-breaking London Symposium ‘Making the Protection of Journalists a Reality: Time to end Impunity’, co-hosted by BBC Global News and CFOM, the Centre for Freedom of the Media at the University of Sheffield.