Debate: The fight against impunity for crimes committed against journalists around the world
Date: TUESDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2020
Speaker: Didier Reynders
Language: FR

Je voudrais intervenir en lieu et place du haut représentant Josep Borrell, bien entendu, en plein accord avec lui sur ce que je vais vous dire. As the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists reminded, in some countries the already difficult situation for journalists is being exacerbated by the use of the pandemic as a pretext for additional restrictions on media freedom. Journalists play a fundamental role in the functioning of democracies. They help ensure accountability of those in power through the provision of timely and factual information. The Commission has said many times that democracy is fuelled by information. In other words, without information, democracy cannot work. Unfortunately, across the world journalists face intimidation, violence or abuse, often putting their lives at risk. Disturbingly, impunity for abuses and crimes against journalists and media workers remains widespread, reaching 90% of cases in some countries, according to a UNESCO report in 2019. We follow with concern reports of journalists being placed in detention without trial, the closure of media stations, and internet shutdowns in many countries. In this troubling context, the EU has stepped up its action. In all relations with other countries we have always been clear on the key role of unrestricted media and civil society and the need to protect human rights defenders, many of whom are journalists. Our EU delegations around the world have strengthened their response to attacks against journalists. A handbook on journalists’ safety has been distributed to all delegations. The delegations are producing or coordinating public statements and social media interventions to give visibility to EU support, observing court cases, identifying cases requiring special protection. In the last 12 months the EU has supported over 425 journalists with emergency grants, temporary relocation or support to their respective media outlets. Dedicated programmes have been operating in many regions for some time, with a total amount of support beyond EUR 180 million. One example is the programme Save Journalists, run by Western Balkan journalist associations. Recent programmes include COVID-19 response in Africa to gather available information, which brings together organisations such as  As regards opposition to strategic lawsuits against public participation (the so-called SLAPPs), EU services are formulating a common approach. The next steps are to establish, first, a network of lawyers and media specialists to exchange practices and know-how regarding SLAPP cases, and second, a focus group on legal and financial aid to identify legal and practical solutions. On a more systematic fight against impunity, apart from the already-mentioned support, protection of media independence and journalist in the Member States was a key factor in the analysis that we did in the first annual rule of law report, which is at the centre of a new rule of law mechanism. Support to the reform of justice systems and the rule of law remains key in our external cooperation in over 70 countries, with more than 2.76 billion spent between 2007 and 2017 – in 10 years. In the future we will keep on working on ending impunity for crimes against journalists with two important tools: the EU action plan on human rights and democracy for the period 2020-2024, and the forthcoming European democracy action plan. As you can see, this topic is paramount to our work on the protection and promotion of human rights, and as the examples I mentioned clearly show, we totally agree, and join forces, with your Parliament on such an issue. And I want to add that, of course, it is very important – I have said about the rule of law annual report – to do the job at home to be able to organise our action outside of the European Union. Thank you for your attention, and I’m looking forward, of course, to your debate and maybe also to your remarks and proposals.