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Time in Yerevan: 11:07,   29 March 2024

UN Secretary-General calls on int’l community to protect journalists

UN Secretary-General calls on int’l community to protect journalists

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called on the international community to protect journalists who “do their jobs every day despite intimidation and threats”.

Guterres released a video message on the occasion of International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (2 November 2018).

Below is the transcript of the UN Secretary-General’s message, as reported by the UN website.

“In just over a decade, more than a thousand journalists have been killed while carrying out their indispensable work. Nine out of ten cases are unresolved, with no one held accountable. Female journalists are often at greater risk of being targeted not only for their reporting but also because of their gender, including through the threat of sexual violence.

This year alone, at least 88 journalists have been killed. Many thousands more have been attacked, harassed, detained or imprisoned on spurious charges, without due process. This is outrageous. This should not become the new normal. When journalists are targeted, societies as a whole pay a price. I am deeply troubled by the growing number of attacks and the culture of impunity.

I call on Governments and the international community to protect journalists and create the conditions they need to do their work. On this day, I pay tribute to journalists who do their jobs every day despite intimidation and threats. Their work – and that of their fallen colleagues -- reminds us that truth never dies. Neither must our commitment to the fundamental right to freedom of expression. Reporting is not a crime. Together, let us stand up for journalists, for truth and for justice.”

More than 100 reporters have been killed since the beginning of 2018 in the world, Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) said in a press release.

The Geneva-based NGO demands independent and international investigations to identify the perpetrators of these crimes and prosecute them.

"The fight against impunity is at the core of the combat against violations of human rights. National mechanisms are not enough. International mechanisms of inquiry are needed", stressed PEC Secretary General Blaise Lempen.

PEC addressed the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, saying that it “marks a very disturbing escalation in criminal activity targeting journalists around the world”. It called for an international commission of inquiry around the killing.

“The murder of the Bulgarian journalist Viktoria Marinova, even if not related to her work as a journalist, is also appalling”, it said. The NGO also noted that the “sponsors” of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s killing are still unknown, a year after the murder took place.


Ten months into 2018, the number of journalists killed is already higher than last year, according to the PEC figures. Since January, 106 journalists and media workers were killed in 36 countries (compared to 99 for the whole year 2017), an increase of 18% compared to 2017. Afghanistan (17 killed), Mexico (15) and Yemen (8) witnessed the highest number of killings so far.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan








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