The United Nations Education Scientific
and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has released its biennial report on the
Safety of Journalists and Danger of Impunity which analysed and condemned the
593 killings of journalists globally and in Nigeria between January 1, 2006 and
December 31, 2013
.
The report was submitted to the
Intergovernmental Council of the International Programme for the Development of
Communication’s (IPDC) in accordance with its decision on the Safety of
Journalists and the Issue of Impunity at its 28th Session in March 2014.
According to the report, 2012
constitutes the deadliest year for journalists since the report was first
compiled in 2008 with 123 killings. In 2013, the overall number of killings was
91 deaths which according to the UNESCO report is a decrease by a quarter
compared to 2012. However, this figure still represents the second highest
number of killed journalists since the report was first presented.
The report states that: “The vast
majority of the 593 journalists killed over this period have been local (around
94 percent). Approximately 94 percent of all killed journalists are men.
Nevertheless women journalists face specific risks in their work including
sexual attacks and harassment which is not reflected in the statistics of fatal
attacks.”
Overall, the Arab States region
registered the highest number of killings of journalists at 190 deaths (32
percent) of the total. Asia and the Pacific region accounted for 179 deaths (30
percent), Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region for 123 deaths (21 percent),
African region for 76 deaths (13 percent), and Europe and the North America
region for 25 deaths (4 percent). The report noted that the number of killings
which took place in the Africa region has remained static with the exception of
the 2012 and 2013 which had seen an increase.
Since UNESCO began requesting
information for the Director General’s reports to IPDC, covering the period of
killings from 2006 onwards and up until the end of 2013, 35 out of 62 countries
where killing(s) of journalist(s) had taken place, responded to the
Director-General’s requests for information.
In terms of the numbers of
journalists killed, the Director-General cumulatively received information on
209 out of 593 cases of the killings of journalists over the period from 2006
to 2013. Out of the total of 593 cases, the received information showed that 38
cases were resolved, representing 6.4 percent of the total.
Of the remainder,
171 cases or 28.8 percent were still ongoing in various stages of judicial
inquiry, and no information was received concerning 384 cases or 64.8 percent
of the cases.
For Nigeria, the UNESCO publication
reported that the following journalists were killed and the status of judicial
inquiry and investigation of their deaths was not available since Nigeria had
not acknowledged or responded to UNESCO’s official request to provide
information concerning the status of the investigation.
They are:
|
Godwin
Agbroko
|
22-Dec-06
|
|
Paul
Abayomi Ogundeji
|
17-Aug-08
|
|
Bayo
Ohu
|
20-Sep-09
|
|
Zakariya
Isa
|
22-Oct-11
|
|
Nansok
Sallah
|
18-Jan-12
|
|
Enenche
Akogwu
|
20-Jan-12
|
|
Ikechukwu
Udendu
|
12-Jan-13
|
Broken down by region, two out of 76 cases
which took place in Africa were resolved (representing a rate of 2.6 percent);
two out of 190 cases (1 percent) were resolved in the Arab States region; 12
out of 179 cases (6.7 percent) were resolved in the Asia and the Pacific
region; ten out of 25 (40 percent) cases were resolved in Europe; and 12 out of
123 cases (9.8 percent) were resolved in the Latin America and Caribbean
region.
UNESCO is the United Nations agency
with a mandate to promote freedom of expression and press freedom. The
constitution of the organization explicitly includes a mission “to promote the
free flow of ideas by word and image”.
Fulfillment of this has included a
long-standing commitment to foster the safety of journalists in the exercise of
their work, as a prerequisite of a free, pluralistic and independent media.
UNESCO has led, within the UN system, the implementation of a comprehensive UN
Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity which
aims at protection and promotion of safety of journalists, both for preventing
violence and for fighting impunity for crimes against journalists.
Source: http://mediarightsagenda.net
No comments:
Post a Comment