Malta’s response to Assembly demands on Daphne’s assassination and the rule of law ‘unsatisfactory’

Malta’s implementation of Assembly recommendations on ensuring justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia and strengthening the rule of law is “unsatisfactory”, the Assembly’s Legal Affairs Committee has said, endorsing a follow-up report by its rapporteur Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD) made public as his mandate comes to an end.

In Resolution 2293, adopted eighteen months ago, the Assembly made a series of recommendations to the Maltese authorities on achieving justice for Daphne, strengthening the rule of law and ending impunity for high-level corruption.

But the committee said implementation of the recommendations on ensuring justice for Daphne remain “fundamentally unsatisfactory, with no final results”.

The response on ending impunity for high-level corruption was “entirely unsatisfactory”, while the response on strengthening the rule of law in Malta was “unsatisfactory overall, with mixed results”.

In his report, Mr Omtzigt reviewed recent developments in the investigation and trial of Daphne’s murder, as well as the public inquiry into her death and the rule of law situation in the country.

Backing his conclusions in a statement, the committee also called on the Maltese government to “refrain from any attempt to impose an arbitrary time-limit” on the work of the independent public inquiry currently under way.

It also called on the Maltese authorities to take the measures identified in the follow-up report to fully implement Resolution 2293 “as a matter of urgency”.

"Healing in Malta won't happen until its institutions are able to acknowledge the truth. This can't be imposed from outside – but we can help." Ending his mandate, @PieterOmtzigt sums up his two years tracking the investigation into #Daphne's death…https://t.co/C4tzDpLBLA

— PACE (@PACE_News) December 8, 2020

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As the public inquiry marks its first anniversary, many have been reminded that learning lessons is uncomfortable

Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, 7 December 2020

The Independent public inquiry into the Assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia began on 6 December 2019, after a two-year campaign by civil society, NGOs, European institutions, and Daphne’s family to overcome the Maltese government’s initial refusal.

In its first year, the public inquiry has made important, visible progress in its mission to investigate whether the Maltese state facilitated or failed to prevent Daphne’s assassination, to establish whether the state allowed an environment of impunity for serious crime to develop, and to determine whether the state has fulfilled and is fulfilling its positive obligation to protect individuals at risk, particularly in the case of journalists.

The public inquiry has made substantial progress despite limited cooperation from the Maltese government.

Witnesses representing government and state entities had to be summoned to testify and many withheld information relevant to the public inquiry’s mission. More worryingly, prime minister Robert Abela’s ongoing attempts to end the public inquiry’s mandate undermine its hard-won and essential independence.

It is only if the public inquiry completes its mission, as set out in its Terms of Reference, that lessons can be learnt from Daphne’s assassination, however uncomfortable this process may be for those who bear responsibility. And it is only then that the country can begin a process of real change that ensures nothing like this ever happens again, to Malta’s institutions and journalists.

For that process to begin, we call on Prime Minister Abela and persons in political office to respect the public inquiry’s autonomy and to commit to implementing the public inquiry report in full once it is concluded.

This statement is supported by:

• Association of European Journalists (AEJ)
• Article 19
• European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
• European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
• Free Press Unlimited
• IFEX
• International Press Institute (IPI)
• PEN America
• PEN International
• Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
• Transparency International
• Transparency International EU

One year into the public inquiry into the murder of #DaphneCaruanaGalizia rights groups urge PM Abela and all those in political office to respect the inquiry’s autonomy & commit to implementing its report in full once concluded https://t.co/0gSP2FNlfj @pen_int @EFJEUROPE @RSF_en

— IFEX (@IFEX) December 8, 2020

Today marks the first anniversary of the #DaphneCaruanaGalizia Public Inquiry.

Since the first hearing in December 2019, the inquiry has heard testimonies detailing Daphne’s life, her work, and the circumstances that led to her death.

Read more here: https://t.co/VKI2y0zzn1

— Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation (@daphnefdtn) December 6, 2020