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Safeguarding Press Freedom in Perilous Times

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IMS Defending Journalism book series / 1 IMS book series – 2020 Defending journalism Shared responsibility: Safeguarding press freedom in perilous times Lessons learned and new approaches to media safety 2 IMS Defending Journalism book series / 3 IMS Defending Journalism book series Published in Denmark, April 2020 Publisher: International Media Support (IMS) ISBN 87-92209-64-5 4 List of acronyms EAN 9788792209641 5 Acknowledgments IMS Nørregade 18 6 Foreword by Jesper Højberg 1165 Copenhagen K Denmark 9 Foreword by Agnés Callamard +45 88327000 [email protected] 12 Executive summary © 2020 IMS 16 Introduction: The content of this publications is copyright protected. Meeting the challenge of defending journalism in perilous times International Media Support is happy to share the text in the publication with you under the Creative Commons Attribution- through multi-stakeholder action ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a summary of this license, please visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ 21 Chapter 1: by-sa/4.0. Can adversaries ally? Building trust, engagement and collaboration between the state and civil society stakeholders 32 Chapter 2: Join the global work for freedom of expression and Anchoring mechanisms in national human rights institutions and stay up to date on media issues worldwide strong coalitions forfreemedia 39 Chapter 3: InternationalMediaSupport Media, the reluctant stakeholder – gaining more commitment and improving practices among the media sector International Media Support is a non-profit organisation working to support local media in countries where conflict and 48 Chapter 4: political transition make it difficult for media to operate. Incorporating a gender perspective into state mechanisms and beyond www.mediasupport.org 59 Chapter 5: A tough push for justice: New approaches and old mechanisms for combatting impunity 73 Conclusion: Lessons learned and recommendations 78 Resources and bibliography Author: Elisabeth Witchel Editor: Colette Simonne Heefner Layout: Nanette Vabø 4 IMS Defending Journalism book series / 5 List of acronyms Acknowledgments AIJC Asian Institute of Journalism and Com- MAP Media Association of Puntland The lead author of this report is Elisabeth Witchel, an independent consultant on human munication MWJS Myanmar Women’s Journalist Society rights, freedom of expression and impunity, who was commissioned by International Me- AJSC Afghan Journalists Safety Committee NCHR National Commission on Human Rights dia Support (IMS). Contributing author, Javier Garza Ramos, IMS Advisor on Gender & CCJD Center for Community Journalism and in Pakistan Development NGO Non-Governmental Organisation Safety, drafted Chapter 4 of this publication. IMS Global Response Head of Department CEDAW Committee to Eliminate Discrimination NHRI National Human Rights Institution Gulnara Akhundova was the editor-in-chief; IMS Advisor Robert Shaw provided strategic Against Women NUJP National Union of Journalists of the vision; IMS Programme Manager Ia Kldiashvili served as project manager; IMS consul- CERREM Committee for Risk Assessment and Philippines tants Colette Heefner and Natasha Schmidt served as copy editors and Marte Høiby of Recommendation of Measures NHRC Nepalese National Human Rights Oslo Metropolitan University peer reviewed this report. CHR Commission on Human Rights in the Commission Philippines NPA New People’s Army IMS is thankful to UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbi- CIGIG Guatemala’s International Commission NUPL National Union of People’s Lawyers trary executions, Agnès Callamard, and all other individuals who contributed their time, Against Impunity OHCHR Office of the High Commissioner for research and expertise to this report: Ilias Alami, Abubakar Albadri, Red Batario, Binod CIMAC Comunicación e Información de la Human Rights Bhattari, Emma Lygnerud Boberg, Jonathon Bock, Julián David García, Laura Gil, Ye Wint Mujer OSF Open Society Foundation Hlaing, Nasriin Maxamed Ibraahim, Susanna Inkinen, Manja Kamwi, Iqbal Khattak, Finn CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists PCIJ Philippines Center for Investigative CMFR Center for Media Freedom and Respon- Journalism Rasmussen, Adnan Rehmat, Imelda Samson, Ramon Tuazon, Qurratulain Zaman. sibility PCOMS Pakistan Coalition on Media Safety We are also grateful for the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of CPNE Council of Pakistan News Editors PCOO Presidential Communications Opera- Norway, without which this research would have not been possible. CSO Civil Society Organisations tions Office CPP Communist Party of the Philippines PJSC Pakistan Journalist Safety Coalition EfS Editors for Safety PPASJ Philippine Plan of Action on the Safety FCO Foreign Commonwealth Office of Journalists FEADLE Special Prosecutor for Attention to PPF Pakistani Press Foundation Crimes Committed Against Freedom of PPI Philippine Press Institute Expression PSSC Philippine Social Science Council FECOPER Federation of Colombian Journalists PTFoMS Presidential Task Force on Media Secu- FESOJ Federation of Somali Journalists rity FLIP Foundation for Press Freedom SIMHA Somali Independent Media Houses FoE Freedom of Expression Association HRC Human Rights Council SMSJ Somali Mechanism for Safety of Jour- HRDs Human Rights Defenders nalists IACHR Inter-American Commission on Human SoJ Safety of Journalists Rights IMS International Media Support SOMA Somalia Media Association IPI International Press Institute SWJ Somali Women Journalists JCSSJ Joint Committee for the Safety and UNESCO United Nations Education, Science and Security of Journalists Cultural Organization JRR Justice Rapid Response UNP National Protection Unit JSAG Journalist Safety Advisory Group UPR Universal Periodic Reviews KBP Association of Broadcasters of the Philippines 6 Foreword IMS Defending Journalism book series / 7 on Human Rights, the General Assembly, the Security Council and the United Nations Ed- Foreword ucation, Science and Communications Organization (UNESCO). These are in addition to the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and Issue of Impunity, adopted in 2012, by Jesper Højberg and the inclusion of a dedicated UN Sustainable Development Goal indicator. Regional bodies have also escalated their commitments. In 2015, the Council International Media Support Executive Director of Europe established the Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Jour- nalists to monitor attacks against journalists. The African Union is working to set up a multi-stakeholder Working Group on the Safety of Journalists and in 2017 the Inter-Amer- “Now more than ever, we need journalism and journalists need our support.” ican Commission on Human Rights launched a Joint Action Mechanism to Contribute to Protection of Human Rights Defenders in the Americas, which covers journalists, jointly Over the last several years, there has been no shortage of reminders of why we need journal- with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Alongside these initia- ism. The joint reporting by a global network of journalists that exposed secretive offshore tives, important regional court decisions taken in recent years have upheld freedom of ex- tax regimes in the Panama Papers, exposure of human rights crimes against the Rohing- pression and accountability for attacks against journalists. ya population in Myanmar, coverage of unrest in Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq, Nicaragua and so Individual states have also begun to step up their efforts. In 2019 the United King- many other parts of the world are just a few. As we finalise this publication, citizens around dom and Canada launched a global Media Freedom Coalition. In the last decade, an in- the world acknowledge how media play a crucial role in ensuring accountability and filling creasing number of countries have established or begun taking steps towards establishing the information gap caused by inept authorities’ response to the corona virus pandemic. special measures and mechanisms focused on prevention, protection, prosecution, mon- The information we receive through journalism and our access to it is essential to itoring and reporting on media-related attacks. This followed the formation several years all citizens; it is fundamental to good governance, fighting corruption and peace-building. ago of the “Group of Friends,” an informal network of UN Member States committed to In an era of growing conflict and authoritarianism, arming ourselves with information promoting safety of journalists. In 2019, the Philippines launched a national plan of action and diverse points of view to make decisions, think critically and hold our leaders to ac- for the safety of journalists. Within civil society, new alliances and coalitions have formed count is more important than ever. around safety of journalists and freedom of expression on national and international levels. There is also no shortage of intimidation journalists have to face. Whether it is This surge in attention and coordination among safety of journalists stakehold- cyber-attacks, arrests, murders, threats of rape and other forms of violence or diabolising ers is encouraging progress. When IMS was founded in 2001, we recognised there was a by world leaders, journalists face unrelenting pressure in these and many other forms. It need to promote greater harmonisation and strong national is not possible in today’s world to stand back and hope journalism will survive without and international partnerships. This is something we have widespread
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