Journalists Day: Groups advocate against Journalist’s Impunity
Today is being observed by the, global community as International Day to End Impunity Against Journalists and Media Workers.The United Nations General Assembly in 2013 adopted a resolution at its 68th session and proclaimed November 2 of every year as the day to mark the occasion,urging member states to implement definite measures to counter the rampant incidents of impunity.
The date was chosen in commemoration of the brutal murder of two French journalists, Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, in Mali on November 2, 2012. The resolution condemns all attacks and violence against journalists and media workers. It also urges member states to do their utmost best to ensure accountability, bring to justice perpetrators of crimes against media workers as well as guarantee victims’ access to appropriate remedies. It also callson the members to promote a safe and enabling environment for journalists to perform their duties independently and without undue interference.
In his remarks to mark this year’s occasion, the outgoing Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, warned that impunity for crimes against journalists is rampant and called for concrete steps from all countries to ensure that media professionals are guaranteed space to operate free from harassment and intimidation.
In her own message to mark the Day, the Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Irina Bakova, noted: “Impunity breeds impunity. This is injustice for all.”
The resolution’s focus on impunity stems from the worrying situation over a decade and a half during which more than 800 journalists were killed for bringing news and information to the public. Thefigures made available at last year’s commemoration by the UNESCO revealed that in 2012 alone, 123 journalists were killed. The figure decreased slightly to 91 the following year but it still represented the second deadliest year for journalists.Of the 593 murdered between 2006 and 2013, 94 per cent were local journalists, while 6 per cent were international correspondents. Male journalists accounted for 94 per cent with 41 per cent working in the print media.
Nigeria has had its own fair share of brutality and impunity against media workers. Apart from the high profile murder of Newswatch’s Dele Giwa in October, 1986 via a letter bomb, there have been several gruesome murders of journalists in recent years. They include Bagauda Kaltho of The News magazine, who was killed in Kaduna and labelled a bomber; Tunde Oladepo, Ogun State bureau chief of The Guardian who was shot dead in his bedroom in Abeokuta; Godwin Agbroko, chairman of the editorial board of THISDAY, who had life snuffed out of him on Christmas eve in 2006; Samuel Famakinwa of THISDAY who was found dead in his hotel room in Maiduguri; Abayomi Ogundeji, also of THISDAY, who was eliminated in August 2008; Bayo Ohu, a father of five and political reporter of The Guardian who was assassinated in his Lagos home on September 20, 2009, and DimgbaIgwe, vice chairman of The Sun Publishing Limited, who was overrun by a vehicle while jogging in his neighbourhood in the Okotaarea of Lagos state on September 6, 2014.
The latest and worrisome case is the recent disappearance of the Abuja-based Vanguard correspondent, Tordue Henry Salem, from his abode on October 13, this year. The Inspector General of Police, Alkali Baba, has assured the Nigeria Union of Journalists that the missing reporter would be rescued. It is even more worrisome that no clues have been established as to the motive behind his disappearance, initially suspected to be the handiwork of kidnappers.
There have also been uncountable incidents of harassment and unlawful detention of journalists. One common trend in all these murders is that the killers have never been found. No one can deny the fact that journalism is a risky profession all over the world. Amnesty International, Journalists Without Borders, Committee to Protect Journalists and other international human rights groups constantly chronicle cases of killing, maiming and jailing of media men and women.
Nigerian journalists are viewed as enemies of overzealous security operatives. Devious politicians and top ranking public officers are always on the prowl, not wanting to see contrary viewpoints in print or on the airwaves. Corrupt accounting officers in government ministries, departments and agencies are among those that dread investigative reporters like a plague and would do anything possible to keep them away. The journalist is the most unwanted guest at every location where crimes are being conceived or perpetrated.But those who hunt journalists down have not succeeded in getting the practitioners to sheathe their pens in order to suppress the truth altogether. Nigeria parades some of the best journalists in the world. The annual commemoration will be meaningless if all relevant professional bodies like the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) do not ensure that their members are adequately protected and their welfare well taken care of. Nigerian media practitioners operate under deplorable conditions especially those working in the private media outfits that exploit them. Aside from poor and irregular payment of salaries and allowances, many are not provided with basic tools to work with and are prone to danger. It is perhaps this deplorable situation that exposes some of them to brown envelope temptations. Very few of them, if any, are covered by life assurance in the event of loss of life or injuries while on duty tour.
