End impunity 2024. Killing journalists kills the story

To mark the 10th anniversary of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, on 2 November, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) insists that national governments are held accountable when journalists are killed or targeted across the world, in particular those in Palestine, Lebanon, Israel, and Syria as a result of the war in Gaza.

Since the beginning of the year, at least 76 journalists and media workers have been killed in the course of their work, 46 of them in Gaza, according to the IFJ’s latest statistics.

The IFJ condemns, in particular, Israel’s attitude  towards the press and its attacks on media workers as a result of the war in Gaza. At least 146 journalists have lost their lives there since the beginning of the conflict in October 2023 – the bloodiest period in the history of journalism.

Since October 2023, the IFJ has made repeated appeals to the United Nations, demanding a ceasefire and calling for humanitarian and logistical aid for journalists, including protective equipment of which journalists are deprived. The IFJ has also called on the Israeli government to lift the ban preventing international journalists from entering the Gaza Strip. In addition, the IFJ accuses Israel of violating UN Security Council Resolutions 2222/2015 and 1738/2006, which condemn international attacks against journalists and media workers in situations of armed conflict.

In the rest of the world, the Federation deplores the endless arbitrary arrests, intimidation, disappearances, physical assaults and online threats against journalists, which aim to muzzle the press and snuff out stories that are in the public interest.

The Federation points in particular at other countries where impunity is rampant, for example, Pakistan with 9 killings this year, Colombia, where there have been multiple cases of threats, attacks and two journalists killed in 2024, Kosovo where 19 killings of journalists remain unpunished and Sudan, another country at war where at least four journalists have been killed this year, mostly by the militias and members of the security forces with total impunity.

The IFJ also recalls the need for a UN binding Convention on the safety and independence of journalists and other media professionals and urges national governments to adopt it.