Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Safety of Journalists - Briefers

"We must redouble our efforts to support journalists, professional associations, civil society organizations - to bolster their knowledge of their own rights and of protection measures available to them." - Volker Türk, United High Commissioner for Human Rights



This set of briefers was developed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as part of their mandate to promote and protect the effective enjoyment by all of all human rights. This includes the right to freedom of expression, including media freedom, and other rights of journalists and media workers. The briefers offer guidance on a variety of issues, including what journalists can do to protect themselves, the rights of journalists during elections and protests, and international human rights standards and mechanisms that are designed to help protect journalists.



As the OHCHR explains, "Freedom of the media is essential to enable democratic, free and participative societies. Journalists and the media are crucial to ensure transparency and accountability for public and governmental authorities. Yet media freedom and the safety of journalists are under threat around the globe." The briefers therefore seek to improve the knowledge of journalists and other stakeholders of the rights of journalists and the protection measures available to them.



The briefers are as follows:

Global Drive for Media Freedom, Access to Information and the Safety of Journalists [April 2022, PDF] - In a context of increased threats and violations against journalists, the Kingdom of The Netherlands announced during the 2020 World Press Freedom Conference that it would provide EUR 7,000,000 to OHCHR and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to develop activities in support of media freedom and the safety of journalists. On that basis, OHCHR and UNESCO developed a joint roadmap, called the "Global Drive for Media Freedom, Access to Information and the Safety of Journalists" (the "Global Drive") aimed at (i) fostering an independent and free media and public recognition of the value of access to information; and (ii) strengthening the protection and accountability for violations against journalists. Stretching from 2021 to 2023, the roadmap is implemented separately by OHCHR and UNESCO. OHCHR developed a work plan that supports advocacy, research, training, communication, and monitoring and reporting activities by OHCHR field presences in more than 20 countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Cameroon, Senegal, Ethiopia, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Tunisia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Maldives, Nepal, Gabon, Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Kenya, and Lebanon.

This first briefer gives an overview of the implementation of the "Global Drive" and its impact on the ground and outlines some of the main threats that journalists face in their work, including: targeted killings and persistent impunity for these crimes; increasing detention; the growing use of defamation laws and laws to curb online expression; on- and off-line gender-based violence; Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation Laws (SLAPPS); and digital surveillance. [Pages: 4]



Human Rights and Elections for Journalists [June 2022, PDF] - This briefer looks, from a human rights perspective, at the specific threats and other impediments that journalists encounter during elections, including gender-based violence, digital surveillance, and other threats to the confidentiality of sources, as well as internet shutdown. It also details the rights that journalists have throughout the electoral process, from the pre-electoral period to the day of the election and when dealing with possible post-electoral issues. In addition, it examines the ethics and standards that journalists should respect, and under which specific and limited conditions the work of journalists can be restrained by governments during elections. [Pages: 8]



Self-protection Measures to Respond to Threats to Journalists [April 2023, PDF] - Due to the killing of journalists and the prevailing impunity for it, the high number of journalists being detained, their increasing legal harassment and unlawful surveillance, as well as the growing harassment of women journalists, media freedom and the safety of journalists is being threatened around the world. In this context, this briefer features a few self-protection measures that journalists and media workers can take to respond to the threats and abuses they face. [Pages: 5]



How International Human Rights Standards and Mechanisms Help Protect Journalists [April 2023] - In the context of increasing threats to journalist safety, this briefer looks at how international human rights standards and mechanisms help protect journalists. In particular, it presents the international legal framework applicable to the safety of journalists and what constitutes a violation of the rights of journalists under that framework. It also gives an overview of the international human rights mechanisms (the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, the Universal Periodic Review and the Treaty Bodies) and examines how journalists can use them both for advocacy and protection purposes. [Pages: 10]



Human Rights in the Context of Protests for Journalists [May 2023, PDF] - This briefer focuses on the various challenges faced by journalists when covering protests, including the increased attacks on journalists during protests by State and non-State actors, the intersectional discriminatory attacks on women journalists, increased online threats, digital surveillance, and internet shutdowns. It also presents the duties and responsibilities of law enforcement officials, including in relation to the use of force during protests, as well as safety measures for journalists during protests and good journalistic practices. [Pages: 8]