The reports, by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression and the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, both focus on the issue of impunity for violations of journalists' human rights.
Both reports urge relevant state and non-state actors to secure journalists' rights by implementing international human rights law and monitoring this implementation. ARTICLE 19 strongly endorses the Special Rapporteurs' recommendations and hopes they signal the start of more concerted global efforts to protect journalists.
It is unusual for two Special Rapporteurs to focus on one particular issue. Each has done so from the perspective of their particular mandate:
The overlap of the reports' content suggests that they are intended to be mutually supportive. This impression is reinforced by the fact that both documents are being presented on the same day of the current session of the Human Rights Council. It also shows how urgently the protection of journalists worldwide needs to be addressed.
The two reports should spur the international community to:
ARTICLE 19 welcomes both reports and hopes they will lead to states improving how they respond to violations of journalists' rights: to date, these have been grossly inadequate.
Read more http://www.ifex.org/international/2012/06/20/special_rapporteurs/.
Source: ARTICLE 19
