About the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists

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Journalism is not a crime, yet increasingly, journalists are targeted for doing their jobs worldwide. The United Nations has set aside the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists to focus on justice for journalists and those performing journalist functions targeted for doing their job. The day marks the anniversary of the assassination of two French journalists in Mali on November 2, 2013.
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Targeting journalists can occur in several ways. Censorship is the most common in the western world.

Censorship occurs commonly in the west when the government, an organization, corporation, or particular interest is trying to cover up a scandal, unpleasant facts, or illegal activity—an example of Gary Webb of the San Jose Mercury News. Webb suffered a smear campaign by various US government organizations for uncovering the CIA's cocaine trafficking for arms and its ties to inner-city drug addition in the 1990s. A few years later, US government officials used similar tactics against Joe Wilson for an op-ed in the New York Times exposing false information on yellow cake and manufactured information designed to convince the American people to invade Iraq. His wife, an active CIA agent, was outed due to the smear campaign.

Censorship can take the form of intimidation, pressure on editors/publishers, intimidating advertisers, defamation, smear campaigns (as used against Webb and Wilson), or forced re-education to promote an organization or cause's position, a tactic popularized by the Israel Lobby and later by LGBTQ organizations against critics.

In the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Central and South America, murder and imprisonment are the two standard tools used to silence journalists. These include the targeted killings by cartels in Mexico of dozens of journalists covering their business. It consists of the killing of identified journalists reporting from Gaza or the West Bank by Israeli military snipers and the murder of ten journalists in Afghanistan on a single day in April 2018 for covering a suicide bombing orchestrated by a terrorist organization. In this instance, a second bomber targeted first responders, including these journalists.

Challenging government corruption is one of the most dangerous beats for a journalist. Sandeep Sharma was murdered on March 26, 2018, in India, after months of threats to report on police corruption. Ján Kuciak and his girlfriend, Martina Kušnířova, were murdered in Slovakia, allegedly over his coverage of fraud in the social democratic party.

Most recently, Al Jazeera's veteran American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was murdered in 2022 with a single precision IDF sniper bullet while covering events in the West Bank wearing full protective gear. As of this writing, Senator Van Hollen, her representative, continues to press for justice. Abu Akleh is one of forty-two known American citizens killed by Israel since 1967. Israel has never been held formally accountable for any of the forty-two.

Sometimes suppression involves arresting journalists and holding them in jail indefinitely. In 2021, 293 journalists were imprisoned worldwide for doing their job. China currently leads the total with 50, followed by Myanmar with 26 and Egypt with 25. The best know in Egypt is Mahmoud Hussein Gomaa of Al Jazeera. He was taken on December 23, 2016, and is still in an Egyptian jail without trial. Gomaa was coming home for the holidays when he was arrested.
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Societies cannot function fully without information—the better the data, the better the decisions. Journalists shouldn't be targeted through violence, coercion, intimidation, defamation, or imprisonment. If they are, those responsible should be held accountable and exposed. This day is about raising global awareness of this issue and seeking solutions that protect journalists and allow them to do their jobs.

For further reading/information on the events mentioned, see:

Ten Journalists Killed in Afghanistan
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/apr/30/afghanistan-the-10-journalists-who-died-in-deadly-day-for-media

Are Israeli Snipers Censoring Palestinian Journalists by Murder?
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/04/27/are-israeli-snipers-censoring-palestinian-journalists-murder

Current information on Journalists Killed, Imprisoned, and Murdered:
Committee to Protect Journalists
https://cpj.org/data/

Film: Kill the Messenger, (Gary Webb)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1216491/

Film: Fair Game, (Joe Wilson & Valerie Plame)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0977855/

Mahmoud Hussein Gomaa
https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2018/02/journalism-crime-story-mahmoud-hussein-180212140543338.html

Journalists in Mexico's Drug Wars
https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/12/22/572822696/number-of-journalists-killed-in-mexico-reaches-historical-high-report-says

Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh's Family Speaks Out
https://youtu.be/JMsDMtWVl1M