International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists

Context

Every year, the United Nations marks the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on November 2.

 

About 

• November 2nd has been observed as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (IDEI) since 2013. 
• The day came into existence when the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) passed a resolution in December 2013.
• The day draws attention to impunity, i.e., culprits going unpunished, to crimes against journalists. 
• It took a couple of years of work and extensive lobbying from IFEX (formerly International Freedom of Expression Exchange) and others to get the Resolution for marking the day passed.

History

• The date for IDEI was chosen to commemorate the assassination of two journalists in Mali on November 2, 2013. 
  • Al Qaida claimed responsibility for the death and kidnapping of French media workers Claude Verlon and Ghislaine Dupont. 
  • The culprits remain unapprehended to this day. 
  • Official figures show a grim picture for other journalists as well. 
• According to UNESCO’s observatory of killed journalists, between 2006 and 2020, over 1,200 journalists were killed for doing their job. 
  • In 90% of these cases, the killers went unpunished.
• Observation of the day is especially important in India, where 2021 was one of the deadliest years for Indian journalists in the past decade. 
• According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, six journalists were killed in the country between 2021 and 2022.

Theme

• The main event to celebrate the 2022 International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists is a High-Level Multi-Stakeholder Conference on the Safety of Journalists with the theme “Protecting Media to Protect Democracy” in Vienna, Austria. 
• This year’s slogan is Knowing the “Truth is Protecting the Truth”.