The campaign "A Safer World For The Truth" will combine an innovative “digital monument” to journalists murdered worldwide with a goal of documenting and investigating cold cases.
This statement was originally published on rsf.org on 9 December 2020.
Leading press freedom organisations have come together to launch an international online campaign to pursue justice for murdered journalists worldwide.
A Safer World For The Truth is a collaboration between Free Press Unlimited (FPU), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) focused on the persistent issue of impunity in the murders of journalists. Journalists are murdered on a weekly basis and in 86% of the cases the killers go free.
The campaign will combine an innovative “digital monument” to journalists murdered worldwide with an ambitious goal of documenting and investigating cold cases. The launch coincides with the World Press Freedom Congress on the 9th and 10th December 2020.
There are three main components to this new campaign:
- Documentation: The digital monument asaferworldforthetruth.com is a live memorial to all the journalists who have been killed while doing their jobs. This monument will be continuously updated and enriched with longer feature stories about the lives of the journalists.
- Investigation: The A Safer World For The Truth project has a team of researchers working on investigating cold cases. Journalists across the world are invited to keep up to date on their progress by joining the global email list.
- Pursuing justice: The investigations of cold cases are conducted by an international team of journalists, researchers and legal experts. The investigations are used to prepare cases that will go to court.
“Journalists all around the world are harassed, arrested, kidnapped and murdered for doing their job: providing people with truth. The three leading Press Freedom organisations in the world, Free Press Unlimited, Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, have come together to say enough is enough. It is time for a safer world for the truth.” Leon Willems, Director at Free Press Unlimited (FPU)
“Justice for murdered journalists is precious, and all too rare. It’s also essential in fighting those who use violence as a form of censorship. If information is to be free, then those who murder journalists must face the consequences of their actions. The first step in ensuring accountability is documenting the murders and the lives of those who have been lost.” Joel Simon, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
“Killing the truth is the world’s safest crime – in nine out of ten cases the killers go free. In order to create a safer world for the truth, we need to bring justice to the murderers of journalists. That is why we have come together to investigate cold cases: to pursue justice.” Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Notes for editors:
The digital monument is live now at asaferworldforthetruth.com. The embargo for publications about the project and the digital monument will be lifted at 09:00 CET on December 9 2020.
To learn more about the project, visit our website and check our social media pages (Twitter, Facebook).
About the partners:
Free Press Unlimited (FPU): Free Press Unlimited is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Free Press Unlimited helps local journalists in conflict areas to provide their audience with independent news and reliable information. The information that people need to survive and give shape to their own future. – freepressunlimited.org
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ): The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. Based in New York, we defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal. – cpj.org
Reporters Without Borders (RSF): Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is an independent NGO based in Paris, France. Its foreign sections, its bureaus in ten cities, including Brussels, Washington, Berlin, Tunis, Rio de Janeiro, and Stockholm, and its network of correspondents in 130 countries give RSF the ability to mobilize support, challenge governments and wield influence both on the ground and in the ministries and precincts where media and Internet standards and legislation are drafted. – rsf.org
