NEW YORK: Murdered Pakistani journalist Syed Salim Shahzad is among 10 reporters whose murder in the line of duty is being highlighted by “Reporters Without Borders” in its ‘fighting impunity campaign’ observed on Sunday.

In December 2013, the UN General Assembly declared Nov 2 as International Day to End Impunity for ‘Crimes against Journalists’.

In a statement released here, RWB said these 10 emblematic cases of impunity were presented on a specially created website, http://fightimpunity.org. Some of the victims disappeared, such as Mexican crime reporter María Esther Aguilar Casimbe, Abidjan-based French journalist Guy-André Kieffer, Iranian newspaper editor Pirouz Davani and Sri Lankan political analyst and cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda.

The others included Syed Salim Shahzad of Pakistan, young Serbian journalist Dada Vujasinovic, the Beirut-based columnist Samir Kassir and the Dagestani journalist Akhme­­dnabi Akhmednabiyev, who was gunned down in 2013.

Dawit Isaak, a journalist holding Swedish and Eritrean dual nationality, has been held incommunicado in Eritrean President Issayas Aferworki’s ‘hellish’ prison camps for the past 13 years, while police officers tortured Bahraini reporter Nazeeha Saeed for covering pro-democracy demonstrations.

The aim is to involve the general public and step up pressure on governments to bring those responsible for these crimes to justice, the RWB said.

It may be mentioned Nov 2 marks anniversary of the murder of two Radio France Internationale journalists in Kidal, Mali, in 2012.

Reporters Without Borders has chosen the 10 cases to put names and faces to the tragic statistics and to show the scale and different forms that impunity can take. The resources deployed by authorities to solve these and many other cases have been either non-existent or hopelessly inadequate. More than 90 per cent of crimes against journalists are never solved and therefore never punished.

Meanwhile, the United Nations said on Sunday protecting journalists and ensuring that crimes “committed against them don’t go unpunished is ever-more important in today’s changing times in order to build transparent societies and keep citizens around the world informed.”

“No journalist anywhere should have to risk their life to report the news,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message on the day.

“A free and open press is part of the bedrock of democracy and development,” he added.

In the past 10 years, more than 700 journalists have been killed for doing their job, the secretary-general said, noting that in just the past year, some 17 Iraqi journalists were executed, while elsewhere many more suffered from intimidation, death threats and violence. Moreover, nine out of 10 cases went unpunished, which he said only served to embolden criminals.

“People are scared to speak out about corruption, political repression or other violations of human rights. This must stop,” Mr Ban stressed. “By ending impunity, we deepen freedom of expression and bolster dialogue…Together let us stand up for journalists. Let us stand up for justice.”

Echoing the secretary-general’s remarks, Irina Bokova, Director-General of Unesco, said in a statement that the vast majority of journalists were covering local stories and living in a climate of impunity.

Such circumstances allow perpetrators to continue attacks without restraint, further crippling the free flow of information, and depriving society of sources of significant information.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2014