Paris, Dec 13 (UNI) UNESCO on Friday is set to continue discussing its report on impunity for crimes against journalists, which was not agreed upon because Russia and other states protested it for the report’s incompleteness.
Russia’s mission to the UN agency told RIA Novosti that the matter was put on the agenda for the resuming 34th session of the International Programme for the Development of Communication.
The UNESCO chief published the 2022-2023 report on impunity for crimes against journalists on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, urging all states to fulfill their obligations to end impunity for the killing of journalists. According to the new report, the level of impunity remains high at 85%, having decreased by only 4% in six years. The report was not immediately approved for the first time in history as Russia and several other countries protested it, citing the lack of mention of Russian journalists killed in the Ukraine conflict.
Russia’s permanent delegate to UNESCO, Rinat Alyautdinov, told RIA Novosti in late November that UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay’s report on journalist safety in 2022-2023 did not mention deceased Russian journalists who were deliberately targeted by Ukrainian troops while performing their duties.
The Rossiya Segodnya international media group demanded in a letter to Azoulay that UNESCO stop covering up violations of the rights of Russian journalists. In particular, the report omitted several cases of deaths and injuries among Russian journalists reported in the line of duty, including the killing of RIA Novosti correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev in a Ukrainian shelling in July 2023.
Similar letters were sent by the Russian Union of Journalists and Russian broadcaster RT.
