The UN-observed International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on Nov 2 marks the struggle for justice for the killings of scores of journalists across the world. The UN reports that, between 2006 and 2020, over 1,200 journalists have been killed for reporting the news and bringing information to the public. Other attacks, including kidnapping, torture and online harassment, especially of women journalists, go unpunished.
According to the UNESCO observatory of killed journalists in India, there have been two killings of journalists in 2022, five in 2021 and six in 2020.
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The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) which maintains a Global Impunity Index, has placed India at 11 in the world Index, one spot after neighbouring Pakistan, at number 10. India has 20 unsolved murders, according to CPJ reports.
Somalia remains the worst offender on the index for the eighth straight year. Syria, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iraq, respectively, round out the top five countries on the index, which covers the period September 1, 2012, to August 31, 2022. Each of these countries has featured on CPJ’s index multiple times, with their history of conflict, political instability, and weak rule of law underscoring the entrenched nature of impunity and making it unlikely that authorities will ever devote resources to seeking justice for the journalists.
The CPJ report states that During the current 10-year index period, from September 1, 2012, to August 31, 2022, CPJ found that 263 journalists were murdered in retaliation for their work worldwide. In 206 of those cases, or 78%, CPJ recorded complete impunity, meaning no one has been convicted in connection with the crime. For the previous index period (September 1, 2011, to August 31, 2021), CPJ found that 81% of journalist murders were unsolved.
