Ramallah – (3ed Nov. 2024) Today, November 2, 2024, marks the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. The United Nations decided on November 2, 2013, to designate this day each year as a global day to combat impunity for crimes committed against journalists around the world, shedding light on the crimes and violations faced by journalists globally.
The aim of this Resolution is to confront the culture of impunity that allows perpetrators of crimes and assaults against journalists to escape punishment, often without accountability for their actions. It seeks to empower victims of these crimes to attain justice, especially given that 9 out of 10 murders targeting journalists go unpunished. The Resolution also calls on various countries to provide a safe environment for journalists and enable them to perform their duties without interference.
In Palestine, assaults targeting journalists and media freedoms—particularly those perpetrated by Israeli forces—have continued to escalate year after year. The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) documented a total of 1,030 Israeli violations during the first year of the ongoing genocidal war waged by Israeli forces on Gaza Strip, comprising 97% of all documented violations. These were distributed between 665 violations in the West Bank and 365 in Gaza.
Among all the Israeli violations during the first year of the war, the occupying forces committed 178 killings, which later increased to 184. Furthermore, many other types of assaults fall under the category of serious attacks on the lives of journalists.
MADA believes that the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators of these crimes, along with hundreds of other assaults against journalists in Palestine over the past years, has resulted in the deaths of a total of 236 journalists at the hands of Israeli forces since 2000. This situation would not have continued and escalated with such violence had there been prosecution and punishment for the perpetrators.
MADA reiterates its commitment to continue working with various partners locally, regionally, and internationally to put an end to the impunity of those who commit crimes against journalists in Palestine and around the world, embodying the goals that this UN Resolution aims to achieve. It also emphasizes the need to pressure governments and international institutions to ensure that perpetrators of crimes against journalists do not escape punishment and to strengthen laws that protect media personnel, enabling them to perform their role in conveying information freely.
