UNESCO launches Truth Never Dies campaign

The Shift Team - 03. November. 2018

The Shift News has teamed up with UNESCO to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.

The campaign Truth Never Dies was launched by UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) on 2 November and it urged everyone to spread the work of journalists who were killed and to perpetuate their legacy.

Their killings, UNESCO said, affect the whole society because they prevent free circulation of information and all citizens’ expression of opinions and ideas.

Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia is one of the hundreds of journalists murdered in the last few years and UNESCO has created a platform which includes the work of the killed journalists.

UNESCO said Caruana Galizia’s investigations must be kept alive and her legacy perpetuated by sharing her articles and her stories.

UNESCO: HER NAME WAS DAPHNE CARUANA GALIZIA

“It is our responsibility to ensure that crimes against journalists do not go unpunished. We must see to it that journalists can work in safe conditions which allow a free and pluralistic press to flourish,” Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO said.

Every four days, a journalist is murdered. Over the past 12 years, more than 1,000 journalists were killed, often because they denounced corruption, trafficking, political wrongdoing or human rights abuses. However, in 9 out of 10 cases, the perpetrators have not been brought to justice.

Moreover, according to the 2017-2018 edition of UNESCO’s World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development report, attacks against, and harassment of, women journalists, particularly on online platforms, have increased.

“We must urgently address the specific threats which face women journalists and which ultimately extend to the journalistic profession as a whole,” Azoulay said.

“The fight against impunity is inseparable from the defence of fundamental freedoms such as freedom of expression, freedom of the press and freedom of access to information. Because these freedoms are central to the establishment of better- informed societies, of true knowledge societies, the fight against the obstacles to their exercise is in line with our sustainable development work in general.”