Between 2006 and 2024, over 1,700 journalists have been killed around the world, and around 85 percent of the cases did not make it to court, according to a report by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The dangers faced by journalists, including risks to their lives, are highlighted each year on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, which falls on 2 November.
This year, the International Day coincides with the biannual UNESCO Director-General’s Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, which recorded a 38 per cent increase in the number of journalist killings compared to the previous study.
In his 2024 message for the Day, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pointed out that Gaza has seen the highest number of killings of journalists and media workers in any war in decades and called on governments to take urgent steps to protect journalists, investigate crimes against them and prosecute
The Israeli war in Gaza inevitably dominated the 2024 UN International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East on Friday, an event that has taken place annually for the past three decades, with the aim of enhancing dialogue and understanding between media practitioners and fostering their contributions in support of a peaceful settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In a statement to the seminar, read out by UN head of global communications, Melissa Fleming, Guterres noted that journalists in Gaza have been killed “at a level unseen in any conflict in modern times”, adding that the ongoing ban preventing international journalists from Gaza “suffocates the truth even further”.
Since Oct 7 attacks against Gaza, access to information has been severely curtailed, it was pointed out. Journalists have been killed, newsrooms destroyed, foreign press blocked and communications cut. Israeli forces, as the occupying power, have systematically dismantled Palestinian media infrastructure, silencing voices through restrictions, threats, targeted killings and censorship.
In the past 380 days, over 130 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza. These were voices reporting on possible war crimes, silenced before their stories could be fully told.
Journalists in Gaza continue to report on the humanitarian crisis, often at great personal risk, providing the world with an accurate picture of the unfolding tragedy.
Under international humanitarian law, the occupier, Israel, has the obligation to protect civilians, including journalists. We are hearing from very senior politicians and leaders that it is okay to kill civilians in order to achieve insignificant military objectives during that process, which is a violation of proportionality, principle and also military need.
Every two years, the awareness-raising campaign for the commemoration of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists coincides with the findings of the report outlining the current state of global and regional impunity.
UNESCO said that it is concerned that impunity damages whole societies by covering up serious human rights abuses, corruption and crime. To uphold the rule of law, governments, civil society, the media and everyone concerned are being asked to join in the global efforts to end impunity.