Greater commitment needed to end impunity for crimes against journalists

Thirteen journalists and media workers, as well as media houses in Ghana, were attacked between January and October this year, according to data available to the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA).

Sympathisers of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) topped the list of perpetrators, having been involved in three out of the nine separate cases of attack recorded within the period.

Unknown assailants were also involved in three of the nine cases, with the Greater Accra Region recording the highest number of four cases.

The cases of attack included physical assault, gun-point attack, petrol bombing and cyber attack, all creating an unsafe environment for media practice and grossly undermining media freedom.

The GJA particularly finds them chilling the gun-point attack on Erastus Asare Donkor of Joy FM and 2022 P.A.V. Ansah Journalist of the Year in October, by thugs working for Edelmetallum Mining Resources Limited; petrol bomb attack on Accra-based Class FM in April, and major cyber attack on The Fourth Estate, an accountability journalism platform of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) whose online platform was attacked and went down for a long period of time in May soon after publishing a three-part investigative story on corruption at the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat.

Sadly, none of the cases has been resolved, and in many instances, no arrest has been made and police investigations into the crimes have left much to be desired.

It is on the basis of this gloomy picture that the GJA, on the occasion of ‘International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists’, demands greater commitment from all state actors to end such crimes against journalists and other media practitioners.

We demand justice for all these victims to soothe their pain, while urging law enforcement agencies to ensure that the perpetrators suffer the pain of incarceration that suits their heinous crimes.

In 2013, the United Nations, per General Assembly Resolution 68/163, declared November 2 as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, with the view to drawing the world’s attention to the impunity for crimes against journalists and the recognition of their safety, following the killing of two French journalists in Mali.

This year, the theme for the commemoration of the Day is: “Safety of journalists in crises and emergencies”.

The GJA believes the galamsey menace that has endangered the country’s water bodies and environment; the dark clouds surrounding parliamentary business that have occasioned open verbal attacks on media practitioners and houses, and the growing tension in the electioneering which has the tendency to undermine the peace of the country, all constitute emergencies that raise concerns about the safety of journalists in the discharge of their duty to inform the public about same.

We appeal to the Ghana Police Service to provide adequate security to journalists and other media practitioners covering these emergencies in the interest of the nation.

We also urge the general public to support the media in all circumstances, appreciating the fact that the media works in the utmost interest of the public.

Although November 2 is the designated date, the international commemoration of the Day this year is scheduled for 6-7 November 2024 at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

It is under the auspices of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the African Union, as the world marks the 10th anniversary of the Day since it was first observed in 2014.

Hundreds of media actors across the world, including the GJA President, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, will converge at the African Union Headquarters to observe the Day.