By Gloria Agbemasi Davordzie
On the occasion of UN International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, the Ghana Journalists Association, says the time has come for perpetrators of crimes and impunity against journalists, to be dealt with according to law. GJA President, Roland Affail Monney, says letting perpetrators go unpunished, makes it difficult to deal with the root cause of impunity against Journalists. These crimes, Mr. Monney noted, have made Ghana’s ranking on the League Table of international Journalists to decline.
Mr. Monney urged Journalists to talk about issues that affect them, including attacks on them in the line of duty, both past and present.
‘’The authorities should also hasten processes to bring to book perpetrators of crimes and impunity against Journalists’’, Affail Money noted.
Background.
November 2, is observed each year as UN International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. Over the past 10 years, a journalist is killed every four days and nine out of 10 killings go unpunished. Killing a journalist is the ultimate form of censorship, and many more journalists around the world face kidnappings, torture, violence and harassment. In Afghanistan, such violence and intimidation, are reaching new heights, including widespread reports of journalists being killed as the Taliban took control of the country. UNIFOR, a general trade union in Canada is working tirelessly with other journalism organizations, including Journalists for Human Rights and the International Federation of Journalists, to get Journalists and other media workers out of the country. Today online harassment and violence, specifically targeting women and racialized journalists, occurs at an alarming and increasing rate.
According to www.unifor.org, this abuse takes many forms, including racism, homophobia, sexual harassment, violent threats, trolling, gaslighting and misinformation. Threats of violence against journalists and their families, including infants are all-too-common. Such deliberate acts are meant to bully journalists into silence.
