SARAJEVO, 10.12.2020 – Leading press freedom organisations have come together to launch an international online campaign to pursue justice for murdered journalists worldwide.
A Safer World For The Truth is a collaboration between Free Press Unlimited (FPU), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) focused on the persistent issue of impunity in the murders of journalists. Journalists are murdered on a weekly basis and in 86% of the cases the killers go free.
The campaign will combine an innovative “digital monument” to journalists murdered worldwide with an ambitious goal of documenting and investigating cold cases. The launch coincides with the World Press Freedom Congress on the 9th and 10th December 2020.
The digital monument asaferworldforthetruth.com is a live memorial to all the journalists who have been killed while doing their jobs. This monument will be continuously updated and enriched with longer feature stories about the lives of the journalists. The A Safer World For The Truth project has a team of researchers working on investigating cold cases. Journalists across the world are invited to keep up to date on their progress by joining the global email list. The investigations of cold cases are conducted by an international team of journalists, researchers and legal experts. The investigations are used to prepare cases that will go to court.
-Journalists all around the world are harassed, arrested, kidnapped and murdered for doing their job: providing people with truth. The three leading Press Freedom organisations in the world, Free Press Unlimited, Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, have come together to say enough is enough. It is time for a safer world for the truth – says Leon Willems, Director at Free Press Unlimited (FPU).
Joel Simon, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), feels that justice for murdered journalists is precious, and all too rare.
– It’s also essential in fighting those who use violence as a form of censorship. If information is to be free, then those who murder journalists must face the consequences of their actions. The first step in ensuring accountability is documenting the murders and the lives of those who have been lost – he added.
– Killing the truth is the world’s safest crime – in nine out of ten cases the killers go free. In order to create a safer world for the truth, we need to bring justice to the murderers of journalists. That is why we have come together to investigate cold cases: to pursue justice – said Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
