International Day to End Impunity 2012
"A Conversation on the Safety of Journalists"
Nov. 22, 2012, Press Club Concordia, Vienna
On the eve of the International Day to End Impunity – celebrated every year on 23 November, - the IPI round-table discussion brought together representatives of international organisations active in the protection of journalists’ safety and well as respected journalists who have experience in covering dangerous environments. Participants analysed with a critical eye the causes of attacks against journalists and the efforts of government, international organisations, media houses and journalists themselves in countering such attacks.
The IPI Round-table Discussion on Journalists' Safety was moderated by IPI Deputy Director Anthony Mills, former CNN correspondent in Beirut, Lebanon, and featured the following speakers:
- Frank La Rue, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Christof Heyns, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
- Roland Bless, Principal Adviser to the Representative on Freedom of the Media, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
- Guy Berger, Director, Division of Freedom of Expression and Media Development, UNESCO
- Anita Zielina, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, DER STANDARD & derStandard.at
- Karl Bostic, former Chief, NBC News, Baghdad Office
This was followed by the discussion "Do you want to call Geneva?" with Swedish journalists Martin Schibbye, recently freed after spending over a year in an Ethiopian prison. The discussion was organized by The Swedish section of Reporters Without Borders, the Swedish National Commission for UNESCO and Reporters Without Borders International (RSF).
The discussion, organised by IPI with the generous support of UNESCO, took place ahead of the 2nd UN Inter-agency Meeting on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, which was held in Vienna on Nov. 22-23. Participants in the inter-agency meeting, sponsored by the Austrian government, were convened by UNESCO and co-hosted by the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and defined the strategy for the implementation of the UN Action Plan on the Safety of Journalists (pdf file), which will be first implemented in Iraq, Nepal, Pakistan and South Sudan.
The International Day to End Impunity marked the anniversary of the Nov. 23, 2009 Ampatuan massacre in the Philippines, when 32 journalists and media workers were murdered. The goal of the Day is to achieve justice for those persecuted for exercising their right to freedom of expression by drawing global attention to the issue of impunity.
For more information, please contact: Barbara Trionfi, Press Freedom Manager, International Press Institute
Telephone: + 431 512 9011
Mobile: +43 699 1025 7062
Email: btrionfi(at)freemedia.at
International Day to End Impunity 2011
"A Conversation on Impunity"
Nov. 23, 2011, International Press Institute, Vienna
Live from Vienna on the International Day to End Impunity on 23 November 2011, the International Press Institute teamed up with the International Freedom of Expression Exchange to broadcast "A Conversation on Impunity", an online interactive Q&A with representatives from Colombia, Mexico, the Philippines and the international community.
A team of experts drawn from a wide range of fields came together to answer viewer questions, and debate the issue of impunity in crimes against journalists. The panel included Alison Bethel McKenzie, Executive Director of the International Press Institute, Andrei Richter, director of the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Andrés Morales, Executive Director, Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa, Colombia, Melinda Quintos de Jesus, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibilities, Philippines and Darío Ramírez, Director, ARTICLE 19 Mexico and Central America.
The webinar was moderated by Anthony Mills, IPI Press Freedom Manager and former Beirut CNN correspondent.
The panel addressed the issues of successes and challenges of investigating journalists' murders, publicising law enforcement failures and providing support for the families of victims - all while advocating for justice - in some of the world's most challenging places to be a journalist.