On the International Day to End Impunity, MADA Center calls for global accountability efforts to deter media crimes in Palestine.
Ed. Note: At the time of publishing this piece, we at IFEX are bearing witness to the atrocious escalation of violence in Palestine and Israel. In this worrisome context, we express our firm solidarity with IFEX members MADA, 7amleh and I’Iam, and with our colleagues throughout the region, as the consequences of the conflict spread beyond their borders.
This statement was originally published on madacenter.org on 2 November 2023.
The second day of November 2023 marks the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, as the United Nations decided on November 2nd, 2013, to consider this day of each year as an International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists around the world.
Through this resolution, the United Nations called on its members to provide a safe environment for the work of journalists, and to take specific measures to combat the culture of impunity for perpetrators of crimes, while providing everything necessary to achieve justice for the journalist victims, especially since in 9 out of every 10 murders, in which journalists have been targeted, the perpetrators get away with it.
In general, crimes and assaults against journalists continue to be carried out in different regions of the world, but they escalate and become more dangerous and violent against Palestinian journalists and media professionals every year. Since the start of the recent Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli authorities have killed more than 8,796 people, including 32 journalists, in order to hide the truth about the crimes taking place in the Gaza Strip from the eyes of the world. They also deliberately bombed the homes of some journalists over their heads, which led them to lose some or all of their family members. For the same goal, Israel deliberately bombed the headquarters of local and foreign media institutions with missiles, which led to their complete or partial destruction.
On the occasion of the “International Day to End Impunity,” MADA Center renews its call for united international efforts for the formation of an international court to prosecute the killers of journalists and those who commit serious crimes against them – this will contribute to achieving accountability on a wide international scale, by prosecuting the perpetrators of these crimes and punishing them, in order to curb the increase in crimes against journalists and media freedoms and put an end to this.
MADA Center considers that impunity is a real danger to journalists and media professionals, the results of which became clear during the past days in which the occupation authorities went so far as to kill journalists in a way that we have never witnessed before. The lack of deterrence against the perpetrators of these crimes gives them the space to commit more crimes and commit violations without fear of punishment. MADA believes that the crimes and violations committed against journalists and media professionals would not have continued if their perpetrators had been prosecuted and punished. Therefore, it reiterates its emphasis and continued effort with various partners locally, regionally and internationally, for the formation of an international court to bring to trial the killers of journalists, in order to put an end to impunity for those who commit crimes against them in Palestine and the world, thus embodying the goals that the United Nations resolution aims to achieve.
