International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists :Details, History

International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists: Details, Significance, History

The UN-recognized International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists is commemorated yearly on November 2nd. The day highlights the poor conviction rate for violent crimes against journalists and media workers around the world, which is believed to be one in every ten instances.

The day highlights the poor conviction rate for violent crimes against journalists and media workers around the world, which is believed to be one in every ten instances. Impunity for attacks on these persons has a particularly negative impact, restricting public knowledge and healthy debate because they play such a vital role in informing and influencing the public about major social issues.

History of the day

In 2011, the International Freedom of Speech Exchange (IFEX), a global network of civil society organizations dedicated to the defense and promotion of the right to freedom of expression, designated November 23 as the International Day to End Impunity. The date was chosen to commemorate the 2009 Ampatuan massacre (also known as the Maguindanao massacre), which was the single bloodiest attack on journalists in modern history, killing 57 people, including 32 journalists and media workers.

After extensive campaigning by IFEX members and other civil society advocates for freedom of speech, the UN General Assembly enacted Resolution 68/163 in December 2013, designating November 2 as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. The anniversary of the UN day commemorates the deaths of two French journalists, Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, who were killed while reporting in Mali earlier that year.

IFEX now coordinates the No Impunity Campaign, which campaigns for all those who have been violently targeted for exercising their right to free expression throughout the year.