Nils Horner’s death highlights lack of justice for those murdered at work

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/nov/02/murdered-journalists-nils-horner-lack-justice

Version 0 of 1.

Nils Horner, one of Sweden’s best-known and most respected foreign correspondents, was shot and killed on assignment on 11 March this year in Kabul, Afghanistan.

He had worked for many years for Swedish Radio, which of all Swedish media organisations puts the largest resources into covering foreign affairs through its network of 21 correspondents all over the world.

As director general of Swedish Radio, it is extremely important for me that the killer of Nils Horner is caught and brought to trial. Wherever such a crime is committed, it should not be possible to kill a journalist without consequences. When journalists are threatened, abducted, hurt, wounded and in extreme cases killed, it is an attack against the rule of law and freedom of speech and thereby also against democracy.

I no longer believe that the killing of Nils Horner will ever be solved, however, or that the guilty will be brought to justice. The prosecutor here in Sweden seems resigned to say the least. The assistance which was promised from Kabul has not been provided. The Afghan authorities are not particularly active when it comes to solving a murder case involving a foreign correspondent.

This is something worth reflecting on. According to statistics from the International News Safety Institute (Insi), 96 journalists or media workers have been killed on assignment so far in 2014. The latest was a citizen journalist murdered in Tamaulipas, Mexico. In a world which is becoming ever more challenging and difficult to cover, it is essential that we in traditional media organisations do not succumb to fear and cave in. We must show that foreign coverage matters and is highly prioritised.

Unfortunately, it is more of a norm than an exception that the killing of Nils Horner appears unlikely to be solved. A report from Unesco, as yet unpublished, indicates that of 593 journalists killed during 2006-2014, little more than 6% have been solved. The overwhelming majority of these, close to 600 journalists, were men. More than 90% were killed while working in their own countries.

Last week a report called The Road to Justice from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), marking the International Day to End Impunity on 2 November, provided similar statistics. Over the 10-year period from 2004 to 2013, it found, “370 journalists have been killed and in 90% of cases there has been no convictions for those crimes. Murder cases that are not investigated and remain unsolved … constitute the greatest threat to freedom of the press today.”

It is clearly not enough that media organisations take the responsibility of investing in foreign coverage, or that large numbers of local journalists actually risk their lives in their daily work simply by exercising freedom of expression. Politicians and the systems of justice all over the world must also make their contribution, by actively stating their commitment to defending the rights of journalists to do their jobs.

It is shameful that so little is done to safeguard the working conditions of journalists. Unesco’s report indicates that, especially in the Arab world and many countries in Africa, deaths are frighteningly common with a very low rate of solving cases of killed journalists. The figure is between 1% and 3%. That compares to approximately 40% in Europe, but even there a majority of the cases remain unsolved.

There ought to be more than enough reasons for politicians to challenge these truly lamentable percentages and work towards finding ways of improving them. Journalists who do not have to fear, and who can work without risking being silenced, are fundamental for functioning democracies.

I would like to challenge and urge governments all round Europe to act. Not the least the new government of Sweden which has brought together democracy, culture and media issues in one and the same ministry, led by a minister of culture and democracy.

I also think that it is time to link Swedish foreign aid to this important issue. Swedish aid can support the establishment of a free press and strong public service media in the identified countries. Swedish politicians should ask about the conditions for freedom of speech and the freedom of the press in countries they visit.

It is vital that the new Swedish government gets involved in the case of Nils Horner and exerts pressure on the authorities in Afghanistan in the interest of justice. My hope is, of course, that the horrifying numbers of killed journalists are brought down radically, and that much more than 6% of this year’s close to 100 cases will be solved. Horner must not become yet another number in these dismal statistics. This is important for us, for freedom of expression and also for democracy.

Cilla Benkö is director general of Swedish Radio and a member of the executive board of the European Broadcasting Union