The High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom welcomes the Netherlands’ publication of a feasibility study on an international investigative task force on crimes against journalists
Baroness Helena Kennedy LT KC (Chair), Ms. Catherine Amirfar and Professor Can Yeginsu (Deputy Chairs), and Mr. Nadim Houry (Member) of The High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom have released a joint statement in relation to its recommendation of an International Investigative Task Force on crimes against journalists.
The full statement of the High Level Panel, for which the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) serves as Secretariat, appears below.
THE STATEMENT
22 November 2024
In November 2020, the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom issued its report entitled Advice on Promoting More Effective Investigations into Abuses Against Journalists report, which included the recommendation to establish an international investigative task force to help address the critical problem of impunity for crimes against journalists.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), between 2006 and 2024 over 1,700 journalists have been killed globally, with close to nine out of 10 cases remaining judicially unresolved. Rampant impunity has a chilling effect on press freedom and a detrimental impact on democracy as a whole, and it is not limited to national borders. The High Level Panel considers that it is critical to the preservation and promotion of media freedom that those who commit crimes against journalists are held accountable for their actions.
In November 2023, the Government of the Netherlands (Co-Chair of the Media Freedom Coalition from 2022–2023) announced it had commissioned a study to assess the feasibility of establishing such a task force.
The High Level Panel welcomes the research study, developed by the T.M.C. Asser Institute and the Center for International Criminal Justice, and its core finding that there is a need for consistent and ongoing support for national and international investigations into crimes against journalists through the establishment of an international investigative support body (the ‘Investigative Body’). The study recommends the establishment of an investigative body that can adapt to different contexts and fulfil context-specific needs.
We commend the thorough examination of options and concrete recommendations proposed in the study for the practical establishment and operation of the Investigative Body. In line with the High Level Panel’s recommendations, the feasibility study clearly finds that not only is such a body necessary, but that there are very concrete ways to make it a reality through a multilateral effort by the Media Freedom Coalition and its Consultative Network.
What is needed now is the political will within the Media Freedom Coalition of States to make the Investigative Body a reality. That is why we call on the Media Freedom Coalition of States to carefully consider the findings of the feasibility study and to take forward the recommendations to establish the Investigative Body, including by committing political, financial and human resources; facilitating a pilot of the Investigative Body; and facilitating the negotiation of memoranda of understanding and other cooperation agreements with the states receiving assistance from the Investigative Body. The High Level Panel stands ready to support the Media Freedom Coalition of States in its consideration of this urgent and important work.
Time is of the essence, and we are confident that the Media Freedom Coalition will take steps to progress the recommendations made in the research study in the near future, including by adopting the recommended regional framework.
Baroness Helena Kennedy LT KC Chair of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom
Catherine Amirfar Deputy Chair of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom
Professor Can Yeginsu Deputy Chair of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom
Nadim Houry Member of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom and author of the High Level Panel report, Advice on Promoting More Effective Investigations into Abuses Against Journalists
ENDS
Contact: IBAHRI@int-bar.org
Notes to the reader:
- The statement follows the Advisory Enforcement Report, Advice on Promoting More Effective Investigations into Abuses Against Journalists, published by the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom in November 2020.
- The High Level Panel’s remit is to provide legal advice and recommendations to the Coalition and its partners, including international organisations, for the purposes of promoting and protecting a vibrant, free and independent media. The High Level Panel also provides individual States with legal advice in the form of legal opinions on draft legislation or legislation already in force, where media freedoms are engaged, as well as amicus curiae opinions at the request of a constitutional court or an international court in a media freedom case of general public importance.
- The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute serves as the Secretariat to the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom.
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The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), established in 1995 under Founding Honorary President Nelson Mandela, is an autonomous and financially independent entity, working to promote, protect and enforce human rights under a just rule of law, and to preserve the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession worldwide.
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Website page link for this news release:
Short link: www.tinyurl.com/3t9hu38d
Full link: www.ibanet.org/The-High-Level-Panel-of-Legal-Experts%20on-Media-Freedom-welcomes-the-Netherlands-publication-of-a-feasibility-study-on-an-international-investigative-task-force-on-crimes-against-journalists