Sabina Inderjit

This year marked three decades since the UN General Assembly’s decision to proclaim it as an international day for press freedom. The big question that needs to be addressed is whether there is reason to celebrate or just mark the Day or resolve to make it meaningful.

International Federation of Journalists, representing 600,000 media professionals from 187 trade unions and associations in over 140 countries, President Dominique Pradalie noted “From Peru to Iran, from Sudan to Afghanistan, governments are taking drastic measures to impede freedom of expression and prevent the public’s right to know, including internet restrictions, beating, jailing and intimidating journalists, controlling media content, and introducing drastic media laws and legislations to curb free flow of information.

Since the adoption of the Windhoek Declaration in 1991, very little has been undertaken to create concrete conditions at international level to guarantee freedom and security for journalists.”  

Few words but raise plenty of concern. This year UNESCO’s theme ‘Shaping a Future of Rights: Freedom of expression as a driver for all other human rights,’ thus is highly debatable.

Though freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, enshrined in Article 19 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, there are governments and a new breed of politicians who are not keeping their commitment, made at international fora and being signatories to declarations, of respecting press freedom.

The media is facing a clampdown on this fundamental right because of its essential role in ensuring transparency and accountability of governments. Worse, it’s not just under dictatorial regimes or in conflict regions but sadly even in so-called democracies. 

Press freedom is grounded in the right of freedom of expression. It underpins human rights such as freedom of thought, conscience and religion, among others, which the media seeks to defend. And if this right is silenced, how can it then speak for or defend others right to free expression.

The media’s role is to help citizens make informed decisions, but if silenced, the citizens end up being left at the mercies of governments, unaware of their rights such as access to education, health, and justice, but also the platform to voice their rightful demand.

Remember, press freedom facilitates holding the powerful to account.And, in this exercise, the media houses and journalists play an essential role. But when the fourth estate is controlled, the powerful rule the roost and as a corollary freedom of expression is impinged upon.  

There are numerous cases to cite but the continued detention of Julian Assange is an important case to highlight. The US pursuit of Assange against the public’s right to know poses a grave threat to the fundamental tenets of democracy, which are becoming increasingly fragile worldwide.

His continued detention has an impact on media freedom and the rights of all journalists globally. His extradition to the US will have a chilling effect, with all journalists and media workers at risk.

Unfortunately, governments are increasingly using every tool possible to silence independent media rather than seeing it as a partner in democracy. They fail to realise that democracy is intertwined with freedom of expression and a free press. Deny these and democracy itself is compromised. The IFJ has listed 68 media staff killed in 2022 in the course of duty. Nine in 10 cases remain unpunished and impunity reigns.

At least 375 journalists and media workers are behind bars, with China being the world’s biggest jailer. Other cases involve journalists being attacked, beaten, detained, harassed and threatened. There are growing threats to digital safety with cyber-attacks, hacking, online harassment, especially of women journalists, all creating a safety crisis for news professionals.

These are not just figures for behind every statistic is also human tragedy – a death, a kidnapping, a family left without a mother, father, a brother, or sister. Behind every statistic is a country or community left without information, denied the human right to be properly informed. The denial of the right to exercise freedom of expression has thus serious repercussions not just for journalists but society per se.

An IFJ report ‘Pressure and Polarisation: Powering Media resistance in South Asia, launched in Mumbai by UNESCO on WPFD too highlights a dismal situation in the region, wherein it has witnessed major political and economic upheaval this past year. Notably, citizens in this region are confronting a spectrum of new challenges to freedom of expression and their rights, as political leaders emboldened by powers usurped during the time of crisis seem to have developed a habit for overreach, controls and clampdown.

Laws made in the name of national security and emergency in recent times have sadly taken up a more permanent place to restrict fundamental freedoms and limit vital spaces of discourse. Plus, institutions that underpin democracy are too frequently being threatened or destabilised.

The report documents 257 media rights violations, including  13 targeted killings, 76 cases of jailings, detention or torture, legal harassment and assaults. 

The developments in Afghanistan continue to be the worst with the media grappling with the new normal post-Taliban takeover with scores of Afghan media outlets becoming dysfunctional. Estimates put figures of functioning media at only 192, out of 579 previously operating media houses.

Less than half of the 476 radio networks are still functioning. Media houses are unable to pay salaries, and Taliban strictures against women working saw about 80% cent of women journalists lose their jobs in the radio sector alone.

The Sri Lankan media is adjusting to severe cuts following the economic crisis; Press freedom continued to be a major concern under Pakistan’s new regime; religious extremism and polarisation dogged the media in Bangladesh and Maldives; the erosion of autonomy due to corporate take-overs of independent media was most visible in India, which also topped the global list for the highest number of internet shutdowns for 5^th consecutive year and amid an economic crisis, number of journalists leaving Bhutan for better opportunities is higher than ever before.

The region frightfully saw growing schisms between communities and along religious lines. Hard-line positions got more entrenched, endorsed by those in power. This polarisation was inevitably reflected in the media, and in some cases, it also fuelled these differences. Laws enacted to regulate online content consistently violated the right to freedom of expression and press freedom.

In these challenging times, it’s vital institutions and governments are made accountable. An important prerequisite is safety of journalists, as despite many protocols, guidelines and proposals, they still face a daily threat, and that there’s a lack of action and, in too many cases, a lack of will to tackle the crisis of impunity, says IFJ.

The general human rights instruments fail to reflect the systemic effect of attacks against journalists on societies. Unlike most violations, such attacks have an impact on the public’s right to information, contribute to a decline of democratic control and have a chilling effect on everyone’s freedom of expression.

Therefore, IFJ has been demanding adoption of a binding international instrument – its International Convention on the Safety of journalists and Media Professionals. This is not in competition with other initiatives like UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists, rather it’s complementary and seeks to remove important weaknesses, specific to the situation of journalists to ensure more effective implementation of international law.

The convention will strengthen press freedom by forcing governments to investigate and respond to attacks against the media. Time governments act and support the Convention.

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