In December 2013, the UN proclaimed November 2 as the International Day of Ending Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. Every year, "between 70 and 100 journalists are killed in the world in the line of duty, simply because they investigate, that they carry out reports" recalls Christophe Deloire, secretary general of Reporters Without Borders, on Europe 1 this Saturday. Journalists killed and impunity still relevant.
How can this day change the situation? "The challenge is to mobilize leaders, and all those who have power and who can make a difference, [...] to ensure that justice systems condemn those who perpetrate crimes against journalists. ", says Christophe Deloire.
"An alarming rate of impunity"
When journalists are killed, nine times out of ten, no investigation is conducted, no culprits are found and no convictions are pronounced. "It is an encouragement to those who kill journalists to have such a rate of impunity," the journalist alarmed.
"In Brazil, there is a special prosecutor's office for the murders of journalists and human rights defenders, but when I met his leader three years ago, he was unable to give the names of the cases in which there was an elucidation, the failure rate of this bureaucracy was greater than 99%, "says Christophe Deloire.
"Journalists are knowingly targeted"
Contrary to popular belief, "most journalists killed around the world are journalists who are knowingly targeted, sometimes on the battleground, but more and more often, and most of the time, in developing countries. peace, "notes the secretary general of RSF.
Christophe Deloire recalls: "they are local journalists who simply do their job, investigate in Mexico on narco-traffickers, in Russia make sensitive inquiries and find themselves murdered most of the time by gangs, local authorities and sometimes c is a state crime as for Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul ".