By: Babagana Bukar Wakil, Maiduguri
It is in recognition of the far-reaching consequences of impunity, especially of crimes against journalists, that the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution at its 68th session in 2013 which proclaimed 2 November as the ‘International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists’ (IDEI).
The Resolution urged Member States to implement definite measures countering the present culture of impunity.
The date was chosen in commemoration of the assassination of two French journalists in Mali on 2 November 2013.
Between 2006 and 2020, over 1,200 journalists have been killed around the world, with close to 9 out of 10 cases of these killings remaining judicially unresolved, according to the UNESCO observatory of killed journalists.
Impunity leads to more killings and is often a symptom of worsening conflict and the breakdown of law and judicial systems.
