A World Press Freedom Day Feature
Rodney Pinder
The worldwide toll of journalists and critical support staff killed covering the story is spiralling. Last year was the deadliest in at least a decade. So far this year, the International News Safety Institute has recorded 19 members of the news media killed at work in 11 countries, all but two of them murdered and no one brought to justice.
In great swathes of the world, across many countries, murder is a relatively cheap, safe and easy way to censor the press. A probing reporter is silenced and friends and colleagues terrorised. And it will only get worse as long as a culture of impunity protects the guilty. Failure by governments to punish the killers can only encourage others.
The Committee to Protect Journalists estimated on World Press Freedom Day in 2003 that in 94 per cent of cases over the preceding 10 years those who murdered journalists did so with impunity.
Killing a reporter is only half as risky as burgling a house in London. And Scotland Yard is hammered daily in the British press for being hopelessly inefficient in combating crime.
There is little sign of this appalling situation improving, despite appeals from UNESCO and journalist support groups such as the World Association of Newspapers, the International Federation of Journalists, the International Press Institute, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders et al.
The problem of impunity prompted a UNESCO resolution, adopted by member states, in 1997. It urged governments to refine legislation to make it possible to prosecute those who instigated the assassination of people exercising their rights to free expression, and requested legal action to ensure that "persons responsible for offences against journalists exercising their professional duties ... be judged before civil and/or ordinary courts."
Depressingly, the Director-General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, felt obliged to return to the issue in 2003, when he made impunity the centrepiece of his organisation’s celebration of World Press Freedom Day. "I appeal to all governments, at all levels, to fulfil their responsibility to ensure that crimes against journalists do not go unpunished," he declared. "It is essential that all violations are investigated thoroughly, that all perpetrators are prosecuted, and that all judicial systems and processes are capable of punishing those found guilty."
"Putting an end to impunity fulfils our need for justice; in addition it will do much to help prevent abuses occurring in the first place." By the evidence, he may as well have saved UNESCO’s breath. Again.
Murderous assaults this year so far include:
And of course there is Iraq, the bloodiest killing ground for journalists in modern times. INSI has recorded 68 dead journalists and other news media workers since the conflict began two years ago, four of them this year. Most were Iraqis experiencing the first fruits of press "freedom" after the Saddam dictatorship; the rest came from 15 other countries. No one thus far has been held to account for a single death.
In a chorus of concern that underscores their anger and frustration, the IFJ, WAN, IPI and CPJ in recent months have all stepped up their attacks on the thriving culture of impunity.
The IFJ called for more concerted action by political and civil society groups. "Too often governments display a heartless and cruel indifference to the suffering endured by the victims and their families," said General Secretary Aidan White. "There tends to be a few meaningless words of regret, a cursory inquiry and a shrug of indifference."
CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper condemned the murder with impunity of journalists in 2004 as "shameful and debilitating". "Governments have an obligation to pursue and prosecute those responsible. By failing to do so, they let criminals set the limits of the news that citizens see and read," she said.
Launching its campaign called "Impunity - Getting away With Murder", WAN director-general Timothy Balding said: "We call on governments to show much greater determination in tracking down and prosecuting the killers."
The IPI said one common thread linked the deaths of journalists in countries as diverse as Bangladesh, Belarus, Haiti, The Gambia, Mexico, the Philippines, the Ukraine and many others. "Their shameful connection is the authorities’ failure to properly investigate and prosecute the killers," said Director Johann Fritz.
What can journalists do other than protest and, apparently, continue to suffer as they try to shine light on the dark corners of society?
They can publicise each and every attack and - critically - sustain the pressure until results are achieved. In this regard, global news organisations can help local outlets who have fewer resources and are more at risk. With few exceptions, the news giants tend to take notice only when international journalists are targeted, whereas the vast majority of victims are locals covering the countries of their birth. Press groups and journalists can investigate and publicise - and refuse to let go until there is a resolution.
In this context, the International News Safety Institute was formed in 2003 by a unique coalition of news organisations and journalist support groups. It grew out of the realisation that journalists must act to protect themselves: no one else would. Since then, INSI has attempted to address the issue of impunity in practical ways.
As well as providing safety training to help vulnerable journalists look after themselves, INSI has begun discussions with key militaries on how to improve procedures to protect journalists on the battlefield. Amongst other things, INSI is pressing for commitments to hold full and transparent inquiries when war reporters are killed by soldiers. INSI is also leading a global inquiry into the factors behind the rising number of journalist deaths.
A Committee of Inquiry, comprising news organisations, legal experts, journalists and support groups and humanitarian bodies, is charged with gathering and collating evidence and producing a report and recommendations to address the issue.
As UNESCO’s Matsuura said two years ago: "The debt we collectively incur when journalists suffer on our behalf must be repaid in practical ways. "At the very least, we must declare war on impunity."
Rodney Pinder is director of the International News Safety Institute and a former Global Editor for Reuters Television. He was an international correspondent and news executive for 35 years, covering conflicts from Northern Ireland through the Middle East and the Gulf to South Africa. He wrote this article for the World Association of Newspapers.