The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has asked the government to show greater commitment towards addressing impunity for crimes against journalists to ensure that perpetrators of such crimes are brought to justice.
The GJA stated that, in the last five years (between 2019 and 2023), it recorded 45 cases of assault/attacks against media practitioners and institutions, with this year seeing the highest number.
Therefore, the Association, in a statement issued to mark the 2023 International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, called “on all stakeholders to demonstrate sincere and determined efforts to end the state of impunity for crimes against Ghanaian journalists.”
“We call on the Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary, as well as other state actors, to show greater commitment towards ending such impunity against the media. We urge the Attorney-General and the Police to prefer the requisite charges against people who indulge in such impunity to ensure the imposition of maximum punishment against them. We also urge the Judiciary not to be lenient with convicts of such crimes to deter others from doing the same.”
The GJA expressed extreme concern that Ghana, a country once acclaimed internationally as a bastion of democracy and media freedom in Africa, is fast sliding down the slope with impunity for crimes against journalists and other media practitioners.
“The lack of sincere and determined efforts by key actors, particularly the Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary, towards ending the state of impunity for crimes against Ghanaian journalists, is fast pushing the country’s democracy and development to disastrous ebbs. For the past five years (between 2019 and 2023),” it added.
Meanwhile, the GJA stated that it remained committed to fighting against all forms of impunity against media practitioners and institutions, as demonstrated last year when it launched the Journalists Support Fund (JSF).
The Fund aims to provide legal support to victims of impunity and also deploy other weapons, including blacklisting individuals and institutions that may assault or attack the media in the future.
