UN Action Plan to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists

The United Nations's (UN) Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression Frank La Rue announced their support for all ventures to combat crimes against journalists, including the introduction of Nov. 23 as the International Day to End Impunity by the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) last year.

Impunity for the culprits is among the leading reasons why journalists are being murdered or attacked every year, according to La Rue.

UN Special Rapporteur La Rue also welcomed the declaration issued by 23 members of the IFEX on Nov. 23 last year to mark the first ever International Day to End Impunity.

IFEX selected the date Nov. 23 in memory of the Ampatuan Massacre in the Phillipines in 2009, the single deadliest incident for journalists.

CPJ's tally of journalists murdered with impunity

Some 574 journalists were murdered with impunity worldwide since 1992, according to the New York-based Committe to Protect Journalists (CPJ.)  

The CPJ had announced the names of nine journalists who were killed with impunity in Turkey in 1992 and the names of the publications they were affiliated with as follows:

Namık Tarancı (Gerçek,) Musa Anter (Özgür Gündem,) Hüseyin Deniz (Özgür Gündem), Yahya Orhan (Özgür Gündem), Çetin Abayay(Özgür Halk), Hafız Akdemir (Özgür Gündem), İzzet Kezer (Sabah), Cengiz Altun (Yeni Ülke) ve Halit Güngen (2000'e Doğru.)

The CPJ had also said it was confirmed that these murders had been committed in connection with the victims' professional activities as journalists.

Game: "Combating the culture of impunity"

The IFEX deeply cares about the UN Special Rapporteur's support, according to IFEX Executive Director Annie Game.

La Rue's statements have also helped to reinforce the joint struggle waged by IFEX members and other rights defenders to draw the international public's attention to this issue and to combat the culture of impunity, she added.

UNESCO is currently coordinating the work on the UN's prospective Action Plan to protect journalists and to end impunity, La Rue also said and called on all governments to back the initiative.

"The problem in ensuring the protection of journalists worldwide lies not in the lack of international standards but in the inability or unwillingness of governments to take effective measures," Special Rapporteur Frank La Rue said when he presented his report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 19. (EÖ/EKN)