Freedom of Expression
Press release R245/22
SRFOE records the
highest number of murders of journalists in the Americas since 1998, and calls
on the States of the region to promote comprehensive policies for prevention,
protection and prosecution of justice
November 2, 2022
Washington D.C. - On
the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, the IACHR
Special Rapporteur’s Office for Freedom of Expression condemns the increase in
violence against journalists and calls on the States of the region to promote
comprehensive prevention, protection, and prosecution policies to address this
phenomenon, considering the central role of the press in democratic societies.
In 2022, at least 37
journalists, belonging to 10 of the 35 OAS Member States monitored by the
Rapporteur’s Office, have been murdered in the Americas for reasons that could
be linked to their profession, according to reports from international and
local organizations that work in defense of press freedom. This is the highest
number recorded by SRFOE in the last 24 years, since the publication of its
first annual report in 1998. In this regard, the Rapporteur’s Office warns
about this escalation of violence against journalists, calls for reflection and
awareness of the serious implications that this has, and reiterates that the
murder of journalists and communicators is the most extreme form of censorship
and cannot be tolerated in democratic societies.
As the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights has held, journalism represents one of the most important
manifestations of freedom of expression. In contexts of democratic erosion such
as those faced by much of the region today, the press is not only a crucial
means of keeping citizens informed on matters of public relevance and
oxygenating public debate, but also plays a role in defending and promoting
freedom of expression and human rights. Because of their central place in
societies, the Commission and the Court have understood that acts of violence
against journalists not only affect the right to life and personal integrity,
but also the right to freedom of expression in its individual and collective
facet, since they prevent citizens from receiving relevant information of
public interest. Both the American Convention on Human Rights, the Declaration
of the Rights and Duties of Man and the Inter-American Democratic Charter
recognize these rights as basic elements for life in democracy.
The SRFOE recognizes
that, in some countries of the region, the phenomenon of violence against
journalists is largely associated with the increase of violent organized crime
groups, which often have greater incidence in areas far from large urban
centers, or in border cities. As the report "Zonas silenciadas: Regiones
de alta peligrosidad para ejercer la libertad de expresión" (Silenced
Areas: Highly dangerous regions for freedom of expression) points out, in those
regions where criminal organizations have a strong presence, journalists are
caught in the crossfire and, on many occasions, in order to protect their lives
or physical integrity, and even to remain in the profession, they must align
themselves with the interests of some power, which means ceasing to report and
remaining silent. Despite the efforts of many States in the hemisphere to curb
this escalation of violence against journalists and media workers, the Office
of the Special Rapporteur continues to document high numbers of murders year
after year and notes that significant challenges persist - some of them
structural in nature - to ensure that there is effective justice and adequate
reparations for victims.
On the Day to End
Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, the Special Rapporteur’s Office honors
the courage and commitment to the profession of journalists murdered in the
exercise of their profession; and reaffirms the importance and urgency for
States to make every effort to create an environment free of violence for the
press, as well as the necessary conditions for them to carry out their work
freely, independently and safely. As inter-American jurisprudence has
repeatedly held, impunity -understood as the failure to investigate, prosecute,
capture, try and convict- fosters the chronic repetition of human rights
violations and the total defenselessness of the victims and their families;
and, in cases of crimes against journalists, it favors the silencing and generalized
self-censorship of the press.
Likewise, SRFOE
considers it crucial that, in the actions undertaken to prevent, protect,
investigate, prosecute and punish crimes against the press, the States address
the specific needs and risks suffered by women journalists due to their gender.
As has been previously highlighted by the IACHR and its Special Rapporteur’s
Office, the social constructions of gender and the historical discrimination
against women determine that the patterns of violence that persist in the
region against the press have particularities and/or a differentiated impact on
women journalists and media workers.
Finally, this Office
reiterates that there is nothing more permissive to the repetition of violence
against the press than the absence of a forceful institutional reaction and
nothing more encouraging and reassuring for the perpetrators of violence than
impunity for crimes against journalists.
The Office of the
Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression is an office created by the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to stimulate the hemispheric
defense of the right to freedom of thought and expression, considering its
fundamental role in the consolidation and development of the democratic system.
R245/22