NAIROBI, January 31 (IPS) – The New Year brings bad news for press freedom in the African continent with the brutal murder of one journalist and the suspicious death of another.
“Starting the year off with the deaths of at least two top journalists in a week is very bad news and hopefully not,” said Angela Quintal, head of the Africa program at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). This is an ominous sign for the coming year.
“The brutal murder of a Cameroonian journalist” Martinez Zogo who was abducted, tortured and killed in the capital Yaounde, and the suspicious death in a traffic accident of John Williams NtwaliAn outspoken and independent Rwandan journalist in Kigali, has sent the media community reeling, I’m feeling drunk, and it’s only the beginning of the year,” Quintal said.
The Forum of African Editors (TAEF) also expressed shock, anger and outrage at these deaths and plans to represent the governments of Rwanda and Cameroon to “request full public reporting on the circumstances leading to their death”.
Unfortunately, these are not isolated incidents. In the year 2022 alone, CPJ has documented at least six journalists being killed in sub-Saharan Africa and confirmed that four of them, Ahmed Mohamed Shukur and Mohamed Isse Hassan in Somalia and Evariste Djailoramdji and Narcisse Oredje in Chad, were killed in connection with their work.
“In these four cases, journalists were killed on dangerous missions or in conflicts related to their work. We continue to investigate Pakistani journalist’s death in Kenya Arshad Sharif and Jean Saint-Clair Maka Gbossokotto Quintal said.
Quintal says Somalia continues to top CPJ Global Immunity Index is the worst country where “journalists’ killers are always free, and there is no accountability or justice for their deaths.”
In 2022, six journalists were killed in connection with their work: Abdiaziz Mohamud Guled and Jamal Farah Adan in Somalia, David Beriain and Roberto Fraile in Burkina Faso, Joel Mumbere Musavuli in the DRC and Sisay Fida in Ethiopia. This is also the number of journalists killed in 2021.
Quintal said Sisay’s death was the first confirmed case since 1998 that a journalist was killed in Ethiopia. CPJ continues to investigate the death of Dawit Kebede Araya in Ethiopia in 2021 to determine if it is press-related.
“Until now, most of the journalists killed were local reporters. Of the six people in 2021, two Russian journalists were murdered in Burkina Faso and we continue to investigate the murder of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sha last year in Kenya to determine if the motives are related to the profession. newspaper or not,” Quintal added.
“The years 2022 and 2021 see the most journalists killed annually since 2015 when the CPJ recorded at least 11 deaths, and I pray that we do not return to the dark days of double-digit murders. A journalist killed is a journalist too much.”
Quintal condemns the extent of impunity and the failure of governments to ensure justice for the majority of murdered journalists and their families—a trend reflected elsewhere in the world. gender.”
Globally, according to CPJ’s 2022 annual report, The killings of journalists have increased by nearly 50% in the context of lawlessness and war, and in 80% of these, go completely unpunished.
“This represents a dramatic decline in press freedom globally, which we also see in record numbers of jailed journalists globally. 2022 saw the highest number of jailed journalists in the world in 30 years. With a record 363 journalists behind bars as of December 1, 2022,” emphasized Quintal.
CPJ’s editorial director, Arlene Getz, notes: “In a year marked by conflict and repression, authoritarian leaders have doubled down on criminalizing independent reporting, deployed increasing cruelty to stifle dissenting voices and undermine press freedom.”
Against this chilling backdrop, Quintal told IPS that short-term solutions include the political will of governments, matched with the necessary financial and human resources, to arrest, prosecute and convict those criminals against journalists.
“It’s time for governments to talk… This sends a clear signal that there are consequences to harming a journalist.”
There is also an urgent need to invest in safety training for both physical and digital journalists as well as emergency visas for journalists in distress.
“This is where the international community can play an important role. For example, diplomatic missions in countries where journalists are threatened by those in power can assist local journalists who need to be relocated in an emergency,” she said.
“Governments must conduct thorough, independent investigations to prevent violence against journalists, and there must be political and economic consequences for those who fail to conduct appropriate investigations. meet international standards.”
Long-term solutions, she added, include countries establishing and investing resources in special mechanisms to protect journalists, such as those in places like Mexico. But she warns that they have failed to live up to their promises, largely due to a lack of resources, capacity and political will.
Governments must also prioritize protection, credible investigation, and justice. When local authorities fail, “foreign countries should also consider common jurisdiction to prosecute those accused of journalist murder – the same way Germany is prosecuting a member of a former assassin’s team.” Gambian president Yahya Jammeh was responsible for the assassination The Point Editor Dedya Hydara.”
TAEF continues to mourn these deaths, putting pressure on the governments involved to respond to the growing list of journalists killed and bring justice to those affected in the promotion of freedom. newspapers.
Report of the UN IPS Office
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© Inter Press Service (2023) — All rights reservedOrigin: Inter Press Service
