Support the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists on November 2.

Paris – 2018-10-26

To help raise awareness of rising impunity for crimes against journalists, UNESCO is launching a new campaign, #TruthNeverDies, on 2 November - the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. We want to send the message that killing a journalist does not silence the truth, instead - and with your help - it remains in the public spotlight.

We would like to invite you to participate in this global campaign coordinated by UNESCO with the support of WAN-IFRA. You can join the campaign by using the material prepared by UNESCO and publishing the op-ed prepared by WAN-IFRA on the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.

Why it matters: Attacks on journalists worldwide are becoming more common, undermining the media's role and creating opportunities for government overreach, the erosion of press freedom, and impeding our right to be informed. We are seeing a climate of impunity set itself up in many more countries than we have seen before. The vast majority of perpetrators of these killings and attacks are almost never brought to justice: In nine out of ten cases, journalist murders go unpunished. This fuels a cycle of violence and fear that protects and emboldens criminals, while undermining the role of journalism in society. The international community must stand up and take any action that is necessary at any level to reveal the truth about the perpetrators of the attacks and murders of journalists.

The big picture: So far this year, at least 45 journalists have been killed [1] around the world as a result of their work, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. That number is outpacing last year and does not include 17 other deaths in which the motive has not been confirmed. Reporters Without Borders puts the figures for 2018 slightly higher and says that more journalists have been killed in connection to their work in the first nine months of 2018 [2] than in all of 2017.

Anti-press rhetoric has not been directly linked to the rising incidence of murders of journalists, but analysts say it creates an environment where the killings can flourish. WAN-IFRA recently condemned [3] the growing culture of impunity for crimes against journalists with which Saudi officials presumably believed they would be protected by. If proven, the state-sanctioned killing of a critical opposition journalist on foreign soil should be met with universal condemnation and a genuine commitment to actively support efforts to improve the safety and security of journalists working worldwide.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Publish the op-ed written by WAN-IFRA on the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. Under embargo until Friday 26 October, 12pm CET, you can download the text at the following link: A New Level of Audacity for Impunity and Journalist Murders [4]

Publish the visuals produced by UNESCO for the campaign. In the toolkit [5], you will find material in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Arabic. We are inviting all WAN-IFRA members to select one of the four visuals and publish on their print and digital publications following the three steps outlined below:

Choose the announcement(s) that you wish to receive and publish in your publication on November 2: download the toolkit and material here [6] or a preview below
Send your publication's technical specifications to laetitia.de-camas@ddb.fr [7], or mathieu.bliguet@ddb.fr [8]
The agency will format the advertising material to your technical needs and send you the corresponding high resolution visual.

It is up to us to act and to make the perpetrators understand that their crimes will not remain unpunished. Speak out for all murdered journalists using the hashtags #EndImpunity, #TruthNeverDies, #journosafe.

Thank you for your support.

Vincent Peyrègne, CEO WAN-IFRA

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CONTACT - INQUIRIES

WAN-IFRA Andrew Heslop, Director Press Freedom, WAN IFRA, email: andrew.heslop [10]@wan-ifra.org [11]

UNESCO Eva Canan, email: e.canan@unesco.org [12] | Alfredo Trujillo Fernandez (social media), email: a.trujillo-fernandez@unesco.org [13]

DDB Paris For additional technical assistance, contact DDB Paris: Laetitia de Camas, Account Manager, DDB Paris, email: laetitia.de-camas@ddb.fr [7] |Mathieu Biguet, Group Account Director, DDB Paris, email: mathieu.bliguet@ddb.fr [8].

ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL DAY TO END IMPUNITY FOR CRIMES AGAINST JOURNALISTS 2 November was chosen as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists following a resolution passed by the UN General Assembly in 2013. The date was chosen to commemorate the assassination of two French journalists, Ghislaine Dupont, and Claude Verlon, who were killed on that date in Mali, whilst on assignment. https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/endimpunity [14]

ABOUT WAN-IFRA WAN-IFRA is the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers. Its mission is to protect the rights of journalists across the world to operate free media, and provide its members with professional services to help their business prosper in a digital world and perform their crucial role in open societies. With formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe, it derives its authority from its global network of leading news publishing companies and technology entrepreneurs, and its legitimacy from its 80 national association members representing 18,000 publications in 120 countries. www.wan-ifra.org [15]