By
Javier Garza
The delegates, journalists and
observers gathered at the meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council were focused
on a noble purpose: promoting freedom of the press and the security of
journalists worldwide.
But at the same time they were at a
loss to answer one basic question: Why is violence against the press increasing
despite years of efforts to curtail it?
In their interventions at the meeting,
national representatives talked about “political will,” a very useful cliché
for useless statements. On the opposing side, journalists and activists
demanded “real political action” to stand up to attacks against the press. Both
sides seemed to be talking past each other.
Such a lofty setting, the Palace of Nations in Geneva,
was far removed from the realities that journalists face all over the world. In
2012, the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization
(UNESCO) summoned representatives from the media and nongovernmental
organizations to launch a “Plan of Action” that would produce protection
mechanisms for journalists around the world. Two years later, UNESCO deputy
director, Getachew Engida, was candidly admitting that the plan is still “only
on paper.”
Meanwhile, a journalist is killed
somewhere in the world every 13 days. Most of them (two out of three) are
targeted outright, meaning they’re not victims of a crossfire, according to
figures presented at the council. These aggressions are then followed by near-total
impunity.
Later, at a panel with Frank LaRue, the
UN’s outgoing Special Rapporteur for Freedom of
Expression, I realized that one of the obstacles to achieving better
protection for journalists is the lack of follow-up to determine whether
international efforts are successful.
I saw it firsthand in Mexico. LaRue
spent a good deal of his tenure promoting journalist security in my country. In
response, the Mexican government created a protection mechanism for journalists
at risk and a special prosecutor for crimes against the press. At least for the
UN, it was mission accomplished. But the protection mechanism and the
prosecution of criminals who attack the press have proved inadequate and
inefficient.
Even with these two institutions, which
have been working to improve the situation for two years now, attacks against
journalists are on the rise. Since the UN has to rely on each country’s “good
will” to punish attacks in the press, but has no means of enforcement,
activists have been prodding the organization to “name and shame” those
governments that refuse to enforce the protection of journalists.
However, journalists and media
organization cannot wait for governments to heed the call of the UN and take
action, while editors and reporters are being killed, kidnapped, beaten,
threatened, sued, hacked or spied upon. Nor can we expect a “one-size-fits-all”
solution.
Security manuals produced by
organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists are an
invaluable tool for journalists, but do not take into account the regional
differences around the world and within each country that produce different
risks for journalists. A reporter in Syria faces very different risks than a
reporter in Mexico. And even within Mexico, a reporter in one region has a
different risk than colleagues in another.
International observers monitoring the
situation of the press around the world need better tools in order to monitor
the conditions in which journalists work. They also need a more accurate way to
diagnose the problems, and to determine whether national governments are
keeping their commitments to protect a free press.
Such a tool is being developed in
Mexico by the International Center for Journalists and Freedom House. My
colleague, ICFJ Knight International Journalism Fellowships Director (and
former Knight Fellow) Jorge Luis Sierra created a map which tracks attacks on journalists
by type of aggression (physical, psychological, digital or legal), by type of
attacker or type of news the journalist is covering.
The wealth of data that has emerged
since the map was launched in 2012 is allowing us to produce a
better diagnosis of the environment faced by the press in Mexico. We can put a
microscope on the regional dynamics of attacks against journalists within
Mexico and the way they evolve and change over time.
This analysis allows journalists
anywhere in the country to have a better sense of the most immediate dangers
they face, by knowing the nature and characteristics of the aggressions in
their regions. This way, they can develop protection plans and protocols that
are closer to their own realities.
As an ICFJ Knight International
Journalism Fellow, one of my projects is to analyze the data produced by this
map with an eye toward the development of better security protocols for
journalists, protocols that take into account the regional dynamics of attacks
against the press. The data collected so far points to urgent needs for
protection in several regions of Mexico. Our objective is to have the map
evolve into a tool that will allow reporters and editors to get a better
picture of their security.
I’ll talk more about how we plan to use
the data in future blog posts, but for now, we can all use the tool to see a
snapshot of attacks against journalists in Mexico—and actually do something
about it.
Javier Garza is an ICFJ Knight International
Journalism Fellow based in Mexico City. He focuses on digital security for
journalists.
Image courtesy of Javier Garza.
Source: Ijenet.org
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