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2018 DG Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity

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2018 DG Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity CI-18/COUNCIL-31/6/REV 2018 DG Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity INTRODUCTION This report is submitted to the Intergovernmental Council of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) in line with the Decision on the Safety of Journalists and the issue of Impunity adopted by the Council at its 26th session on 27 March 2008, and renewed at subsequent sessions in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016. In its latest Decision, adopted in November 2016, the IPDC Council urged Member States to “continue to inform the Director-General of UNESCO, on a voluntary basis, on the status of the judicial inquiries conducted on each of the killings condemned by the Director-General”. The present report provides an analysis of the cases of killings of journalists and associated media personnel that were condemned by the Director-General in 2016 and 2017. It also takes stock of the status of judicial enquiries conducted on each of the killings recorded by UNESCO between 2006 and 2017, based on information provided by Member States. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Executive Summary 2 2. Background and Context 2 3. Journalists’ killings in 2016 and 2017: key findings 7 3.1 Most dangerous regions 8 3.2 Rise in number of women journalists among fatalities 9 3.3 Highest number of killings among TV journalists 11 3.4 Majority of victims are local journalists 11 3.5 Freelance and staff journalists 12 3.6 More killings occurring in countries with no armed conflict 12 4. Member States’ responses: status of the judicial enquiries on cases of journalists killed from 2006 to end 2017 13 4.1 Decrease in Member State response rate to Director-General’s request 18 4.2 Slight reduction in impunity rate, but 89% of cases remain unresolved 19 4.3 Member States reporting on measures to promote safety of journalists and to combat impunity 21 5. Conclusion 24 Annexes Annex A: Methodology for the analysis of Member States’ responses on the status of judicial investigations Annex B: Status of judicial enquiries of journalists killed in 2006-2017 Annex C: List of killings of journalists condemned by the Director-General in 2016 and 2017 Annex D: Regional groupings 1 1. Executive Summary This report provides an overview of data collected by UNESCO on killings of journalists that took place between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2017. In addition, the report analyzes the status of judicial enquiries of the killings recorded by UNESCO since 2006, based on information made available to UNESCO by Member States. In 2016-2017, UNESCO recorded the killings of 182 journalists, which marks a slight decrease in the number of fatalities compared to the previous two-year period. However, compared to earlier periods, such as 2007-2011, numbers remain elevated. In 2017, the largest number of killings took place in the Asia and the Pacific region (34% of all killings), while in 2016, the largest number of killings occurred in the Arab States (31%). A rise in the percentage of women journalists among those killed in 2017 marks the continuation of a trend that has become apparent over the last years. However, while the proportion of women among fatalities has risen, the majority of killed journalists are men. An increase in the number of journalists killed outside of armed conflict zones can be noted in the last few years, with a majority of journalists (55%) in 2017 killed in countries not experiencing armed conflict. Many of these journalists were reporting on topics related to corruption, trafficking, and political wrongdoing. In line with observations of previous years, local journalists remain the vast majority among victims. Even though a slightly higher proportion of cases has been reported as being resolved (11% of cases, compared to 8% of cases in 2016), legal impunity for perpetrators is still the norm for most killings of journalists. A regression in the response rate of Member States to the Director-General’s request for information on the judicial follow-up to killings of journalists is a worrisome development. However, even though the Member States’ response rate dropped by 10 percentage points (from 74% in 2017 to 64% in 2018), 15 Member States followed the Director-General’s invitation to provide information on positive measures taken to address the safety of journalists and impunity. 2. Background and Context UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity UNESCO has continued to play a leading role in coordinating the implementation of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity (hereafter referred to as UN Plan of Action), which was endorsed in 2012 by the UN Chief Executives Board.1 1 The UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity can be accessed in all official UN languages here. 2 The Plan is designed as a multi-stakeholder effort to coordinate responses aimed at the prevention of, protection against, and prosecution for attacks against journalists. Its implementing actors include UN agencies, national governmental authorities, regional organizations, human rights bodies, UN country teams, media actors, national and international NGOs, and academia. The implementation of the Plan revolves around six main pillars: standard setting and policy making, awareness-raising, monitoring and reporting, capacity building, academic research and coalition building. UNESCO gathers information on current developments, research and events associated with the UN Plan of Action in a bimonthly newsletter. In recent years, achievements in the implementation of the UN Plan have included: The UN Plan of Action is being implemented by UN Country Teams (UNCTs) or by civil society organization (CSO) coalitions in more than 30 countries; At least 12 countries have created or strengthened national, multi-stakeholder mechanisms for the safety of journalists, while the African Union (AU) announced in 2018 the creation of a working group dedicated to this issue whose role will include promoting the setting up of national mechanisms on the safety of journalists in selected AU countries; Member States are increasingly aware of critical issues related to the safety of journalists, in large part due to the increased scale and promotion of dedicated international days such as World Press Freedom Day (3 May) and the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (2 November).2 Multi-stakeholder Consultation on Strengthening the Implementation of the UN Plan of Action In 2017, UNESCO, together with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, organized a multi-stakeholder consultation to review ways of strengthening the implementation of the UN Plan of Action. This consultation process, which included an online component, culminated in a conference in Geneva, Switzerland, attended by some 250 representatives of UN agencies, Member States, regional intergovernmental organizations, civil society, media, internet intermediaries and academia. The Outcome Document from this consultation, which is also referenced in the 2018 Human Rights Council Resolution on the Safety of Journalists (A/HRC/39/L.73), highlights the need to translate international norms into national policies and practices. It also signals the need to create stronger synergies between the relevant UN agencies; to strengthen mechanisms at the national level that deal with prevention of, protection against and prosecution for crimes against journalists; and to address specific risks faced by women journalists, including online.4 It also encourages Member States to report “on the safety of journalists, including within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN human rights bodies and 2 Bi-monthly Newsletter on the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, https://en.unesco.org/un-plan-action-safety-journalists/newsletter. 3 http://undocs.org/A/HRC/39/L.7 4 Consultation Outcome Document, 16 August 2017. 3 UNESCO’s monitoring of judicial follow-up to killings”, and invites those Member States who respond to the Director-General’s request on judicial follow-up to killings of journalists to make their responses publically available. Network of Focal Points on the Safety of Journalists in the UN system One of the specific recommendations made to the UN in the Outcome Document of the multi- stakeholder consultation was the formalization and enhancement of a network of focal points in relevant UN agencies, funds and programmes to exchange information and coordinate actions promoting the safety of journalists and addressing impunity. In November 2017, UN Secretary-General António Guterres addressed a request to appoint focal points on the safety of journalists to 14 relevant UN agencies.5 Under the lead of UNESCO and OHCHR, and in close consultation with the Executive Office of the Secretary- General, the enhanced Network of Focal Points has been operational since January 2018. Since then, Terms of Reference for the network have been drafted, and regular meetings have been held. The network has coordinated actions in a number of cases, elaborated a Work Plan, and discussed procedures for dealing with individual cases of attacks against journalists brought to the attention of the UN Secretary-General. Another development has been the appointment by the UN Secretary-General of Under- Secretary-General Ana Maria Menéndez as designated official for the safety of journalists. By appointing a senior official for the safety of journalists in the
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