18 October 2018

 

Peace and Security

 

Every four days, a journalist is murdered, often for simply doing their job of uncovering something that someone wants to stay hidden: the vast majority of these killings go unpunished.

To help raise awareness of this situation, UNESCO, the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization, is launching a new campaign, Truth Never Dies, on 2 November, the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.

The organization is calling for media partners to support the campaign by publishing stories on, or by, journalists who have been killed simply for doing their job, to coincide with the 2 November commemoration. UNESCO has produced a toolkit for media that want to take part.

 

In a statement released on Wednesday, UNESCO said that journalist killings affect the whole of society because they prevent the free circulation of information and all citizens’ expression of opinions and ideas. The message of the campaign is that, by publishing stories of these journalists in the media and demanding that justice be done, truth will not die.

2 November was chosen as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists following a resolution passed by the UN General Assembly in 2013. The date was chosen to commemorate the assassination of two French journalists, Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, who were killed on that date in Mali, whilst on assignment.