We, the
undersigned organisations, call for an immediate, thorough, and independent
investigation into the killing of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu
Akleh in an attack in the West Bank on May 11 that also left another journalist
wounded. We demand that the government of Israel and all other states fulfil
their responsibility to ensure that crimes against journalists are fully
investigated and prosecuted.
The
killing of Abu Akleh, one of Palestine’s most widely respected journalists who
had reported from the West Bank for decades, has shocked many in the region and
around the world. According to Al Jazeera, Abu Akleh and three other journalists came
under fire from Israeli soldiers while reporting on an Israeli military raid of
a refugee camp in the city of Jenin on the West Bank. The reporters were
wearing vests and helmets, clearly marked as “press.” Abu Akleh was shot in the face and Al Jazeera producer Ali
Al-Samoudi was shot in the back. Al-Samoudi was treated for gunshot wounds and
released from the hospital.
Eyewitness accounts, video documentation and media reports indicating that these journalists
may have been deliberately targeted by Israeli soldiers have made this case all
the more alarming. An analysis by independent investigative teams with
Bellingcat concluded that the gunfire came from Israeli soldiers and that the
shots seem to have been “both aimed and deliberate.”
We
call attention to this latest case as one of a wider pattern of violence
against journalists and media workers in Palestine. At least 23 journalists in
Palestine have been killed since 2002, according to UNESCO data, and hundreds have been
injured by or targeted with violence.
In
May 2021, Israeli forces bombed the media offices of the Associated Press
and Al Jazeera in Gaza Strip. That same month, an Israeli airstrike killed Voice of Al-Aqsa reporter Yousef Abu Hussein in
his home. In 2018, Palestinian journalists Yaser Murtaja and Ahmed Abu Hussein
were also killed while covering the Gaza border protests. Advocacy groups, including the
International Federation of Journalists, have cited these cases in a recent
submission to the International Criminal Court on the “systematic targeting of
journalists” in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The duty to investigate: Ending impunity for crimes
against journalists
States
have a duty to investigate attacks on journalists promptly, thoroughly, and
independently, and to prosecute those responsible. This obligation is well
established in international and regional human rights instruments, as well as
in numerous UN protocols and resolutions, requiring states to provide effective remedy for human rights abuses.
Israel
is among the many states around the world that are failing to meet this
obligation. A vast majority of murders of journalists go unresolved, which has
fueled a culture of rampant impunity for violence and crimes
against the press on a global level.
The
obligation to investigate crimes against journalists does not disappear in a
conflict zone. On the contrary, authorities are legally bound under
international law and international
humanitarian law to ensure the safety of journalists and media
workers in situations of conflict. Moreover, a deliberate attack on a
journalist during a situation of armed conflict constitutes a war crime.
The
killing of Shireen Abu Akleh represents a particularly egregious attack on the
press, not least because of credible reports that Abu Akleh and other
journalists were intentionally targeted by Israeli forces, but also in light of
growing concerns over impunity for crimes against journalists and other grave human rights abuses
by Israel in the occupied Palestine territory. The Israeli
government’s recent announcement that
it will not investigate this killing only adds to these concerns.
We, the undersigned organisations, demand concrete action by states and
other duty bearers, including international governmental organisations (IGOs)
with a specific mandate in this area, to fulfil their duty to protect the
safety of journalists and to ensure that attacks against the press are not
carried out with impunity.
We
call for:
• The government of Israel to uphold its
international obligations to conduct a thorough, transparent, and independent
investigation into the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh and to
prosecute those responsible. This
investigation must include the full involvement of independent international
experts or observers and must follow UN protocols for
conducting investigations into human rights abuses.
• In parallel, an international task force to
investigate this attack and to ensure credibility and impartiality of procedures
and outcomes. Ideally,
such a task force would be led by UN special rapporteurs with
mandates that include oversight over issues related to the safety of
journalists or human rights abuses. This follows the precedent set by the investigation into
the killing of Jamal Khashoggi initiated by Dr. Agnes
Callamard, former UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary
executions in 2019. This investigation must include the full involvement of
independent international experts, as well as participation and input by
journalists and civil society.
• In the absence of an independent and
impartial investigation by the government of Israel, the International Criminal
Court (ICC) to conduct an investigation into the circumstances of Abu Akleh’s killing and the
attack on Abu Akleh and her colleagues to determine if this incident amounts to
a war crime under the Rome Statute of the ICC.
• Governments, particularly allies of Israel, to
hold Israel accountable to its international obligations to protect the safety
of the press and for ending impunity for crimes against journalists in
Palestine. Governments
must also urge Israel to fully cooperate with any international inquiries into
this crime as well as with other investigations into human rights abuses by
Israeli forces in the occupied Palestinian territories.
• Governments to take clear measures to end impunity
for crimes against journalists at the global and local levels, including through
multilateral institutions and coalitions. This includes prioritising support
for the creation of a standing, international multi-stakeholder task force to
investigate threats and crimes against journalists, involving the participation
of UN special rapporteurs, civil society, media and journalists worldwide.
Signatories:
Article
19
Association
for International Broadcasting
7amleh
– The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media
Afghanistan
Journalists Center (AFJC)
Bahrain
Center for Human Rights
Cartoonists
Rights Network International (CRNI)
Cambodian
Center for Human Rights
Center
for Media Studies and Peacebuilding (CEMESP-Liberia)
Centre
for Independent Journalism, Malaysia (CIJ)
Child
Rights International Network (CRIN)
Committee
to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Freedom
of Expression Institute (FXI)
Globe
International Center
Gulf
Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
I’lam
Media Centre
Independent
Journalism Center Moldova (IJC)
Index
on Censorship
International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
International
Press Institute (IPI)
Maharat
Foundation – Lebanon
Media
Action Nepal
Media
Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)
Media
Watch Bangladesh
Mediacentar
Sarajevo
Pakistan
Press Foundation (PPF)
PEN
Canada
PEN
International
PEN
Norway
Public
Media Alliance
SEENPM
South
East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)
Syrian
Center for Media and Freedom of Expression- SCM
World
Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC)
World
Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA)
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