A “people’s court” charged with investigating murders of journalists and holding accountable governments found responsible for these crimes opened in The Hague on Tuesday, denouncing the increasing violence against this profession around the world.
Composed of international jurists, this “tribunal” will hold hearings for six months in three high-profile cases: the 2009 assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunge in Sri Lanka, that of Miguel Ángel López Velasco in Mexico in 2011 and that of Nabil Al-Sharbaji in Syria in 2015.
The body takes the form of a deliberative assembly where personalities denounce in a legal form acts that they deem reprehensible towards journalists, in particular in relation to international law. Their opinions will then be sent to the authorities concerned.
The Filipina Maria Ressa, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, was one of the first to testify, warning against “arming social networks” against journalists and other critical voices.
Mme Ressa said by videoconference that she and her investigative diary Rapper had been the target of legal proceedings and threats following reports of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs”.
Among the key witnesses is also Hatice Cengiz, academic and fiancée of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, assassinated in 2018.
“Before, journalists were targeted by individuals, now they are targeted by governments,” Mr.me Cengiz on Monday at a press conference in The Hague.
She takes part in the “People’s Court”, established in a 17th century church.e century in The Hague, to “remind the world what happened to Jamal and why we have not obtained justice so far,” she added.
The “tribunal” was created by three major press freedom organizations: Reporters Without Borders (RSF), based in Paris, Free Press Unlimited (FPU), which has its headquarters in Amsterdam, and the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), based in New York.
Since 1992, more than 1,400 journalists have been killed, and in eight out of ten cases where a journalist is murdered, the murderers have not been apprehended, according to RSF.
“Fear” of the truth
Media freedoms have been further compromised in recent years by populist leaders, including former US President Donald Trump, said Helena Kennedy, a famous British lawyer who advises the “tribunal”.
“Journalism is about telling the truth. This is what populist and authoritarian governments fear most, ”she added via video conference.
The court wants to show that it is possible to find new evidence in cases of journalists’ murders, even when states can’t or won’t, FPU director Leon Willems said.
“When a journalist is killed, when we let it happen, we kill stories. We kill stories that are important, that reveal wrongdoing, ”he continued.