Criminal impunity

November 2 saw International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, yet another reminder of how vulnerable journalists have become in the world – and more so in Pakistan. Freedom of expression has been increasingly under threat around the world as violent assaults on journalists have multiplied even in the 21st century. There are excessive restraints on the work of independent media including electronic, print, and social. The United Nations conference in Vienna held in the first week of November highlighted the inaction the Commonwealth governments have shown in this matter. A high-level panel on media freedom has described the situation in most Commonwealth countries as ‘absolutely unacceptable’. The panel has found that in these countries there is 96 per cent rate of impunity, meaning the authorities fail to bring perpetrators to justice in 96 per cent of cases involving victimization of journalists and media professionals.

In countries such as Pakistan which is a Commonwealth member there are serious shortcomings that curtail the independence of media. Just recently Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif was brutally murdered in Kenya, his murder still shrouded in mystery. More than 90 per cent of murder cases of journalists in the past ten years in the country have resulted in no conviction at all, according to the Freedom Network’s Annual Impunity Report for 2022. From 2012 to 2022, around 53 Pakistani journalists were killed but only two led to any convictions. Such impunity invariably leads to more crimes against journalists and is a sign of a conflict-ridden society where law and judicial systems fail to protect media workers. The situation has grown markedly worse over the past few years, with consistent use of repressive measures by non-state and state actors constraining the working environment for media professionals in the country.

And it is not just the Commonwealth. Israel has been waging a wide-scale war on Palestinian media workers and those who appear to be highlighting Israeli atrocities in the occupied territories. Palestinian-American reporter Shireen Abu Akleh was one such victim. Israel has become one of the worst examples of violence against journalists in the world by following an organized policy to stifle the Palestinian voices. While journalists are subjected to abuse and violations the world over, the case of Israel is particularly noteworthy. Not even a single killer has been held accountable for the 50 Palestinian journalists killed in the past two decades. According to a reliable set of data from the UN, over 200 journalists have lost their lives in target killings in Commonwealth states in the past 15 years while around the world, over 1200 journalists have been killed in the past 15 years and nearly 90 per cent of these cases remained unresolved. This is an alarming situation and without concerted efforts in and across Commonwealth states the dangers for media professionals will persist. Civil society organizations and the governments in the Commonwealth states now need to work together. Until governments start respecting the role the media plays in such trying circumstances, journalists around the world will continue to pay the ultimate price for doing their jobs.