An international day to end impunity for crimes against journalists: Joint statement
Delivered by H.E. Christine Fages, Permanent Representative of France to the OSCE, on behalf of 16 states at the OSCE Permanent Council on 6 November 2020.

Nov 8, UK Delegation to the OSCE:
Mr Chair,
I make this statement on behalf of the informal OSCE Group of Friends on the Safety of Journalists, namely Austria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Our Vienna-based Group has joined with similar Groups of Friends in UNESCO, the United Nations and Council of Europe in Paris, New York, Geneva and Strasbourg to issue a Joint Statement on the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (IDEI) on 2 November.
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We welcome the focus given to the Safety of Journalists across international organisations, including the OSCE. Our collective decision adopted in Milan in 2018 on Safety of Journalists was correctly hailed as a pioneering decision. It recognized that for freedom of expression and media freedom, the ability of journalists to carry out their work under safe conditions, without fear of being subjected to repression, abuse and violence is of crucial importance.
In that Decision, we called on participating States to:
Take effective measures to end impunity for crimes committed against journalists, by ensuring accountability as a key element in preventing future attacks, including by ensuring that law enforcement agencies carry out swift, effective and impartial investigations into acts of violence and threats against journalists, in order to bring all those responsible to justice, and ensure that victims have access to appropriate remedies.