The murder of a journalist is the ultimate form of censorship, yet the perpetrators of such crimes are seldom held to account. In nearly eight out of 10 cases where a journalist has been targeted for murder, their killers go free. The price of a story should never be that high—and the murder of a journalist should never be accepted. CPJ is seeking justice for these slain journalists, including full and timely investigations and the convictions of those who carry out and order the murders.
Read CPJ’s 2022 Impunity Index here
A Safer World For The Truth is a collaboration between CPJ, Free Press Unlimited (FPU), and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) focused on solutions to global impunity. The innovative project combines multiple approaches to justice, including a “digital monument” to murdered journalists, as well as supporting, documenting, and investigating cold cases.
The ambitious campaign also includes a Permanent People’s Tribunal, with five hearings held in The Hague, culminating on World Press Freedom Day in May 2022. The Tribunal will investigate and provide indictments on:
- The global patterns in threats against the media, and the murder of journalists in particular;
- The impact of systematic, widespread, and global impunity for the murder of journalists on peoples’ right to information;
- Three murder cases in Mexico, Sri Lanka, and Syria where no justice was achieved, in order to assess the deeper causes of impunity and its consequences.
The indictments will be served to all three countries, on the grounds that blocking justice in these cases is a violation of international human rights law.
Learn more here and read a Safer World For The Truth’s first two reports, on the murders of Regina Martínez in Mexico and Zubair Mujahid in Pakistan
The Last Column
“The Last Column” is a powerful project created by CPJ and partners highlighting the 24 final works of journalists killed in the service of newsgathering. The global initiative sheds light on what is lost when a journalist is murdered, and includes a book and series of mini-documentaries.
#JusticeForDaphne
A vigil at the Great Siege Square held October 16, 2021, to mark the anniversary of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder and highlight the need for greater protections for Malta’s journalism community. (CPJ)
Four years ago, investigative journalist and Panama Papers reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia was tragically killed in a car bomb in Malta. CPJ, alongside Caruana Galizia’s family and partners, continue to fight for justice in her case.
The toll of impunity
In 2009, 32 journalists and media workers were murdered in the Maguindanao massacre in the Philippines, the deadliest attack on the press ever recorded by CPJ. While some convictions have been achieved, the fight for full justice continues.
Watch this powerful video made a year after the massacre, as a CPJ delegation travels from the murder scene in Ampatuan to the presidential palace in Manila. Family members, justice officials, and political leaders talk about the challenges.