More needs to be done to fight impunity on the ground, said the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) to mark the 2022 International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on 2 November. Slow progress are made, but still very insufficient. PEC appeals to launch the work for an international convention.

Read the PEC press rlease on PEC NEWS (English and French)

29.10.2022. UKRAINE/RUSSIA. ONE MORE PRO-RUSSIAN JOURNALIST KILLED. The Russian female journalist Svetlana Babayeva (photo) headed up the Russian state-owned Rossiya Segodnya media group’s bureau in Simferopol, the second-largest city on the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. RIA Novosti, a Russian news agency and subsidiary of Rossiya Segodnya, reported on Friday that Babayeva was killed by a stray bullet during shooting practice at a military training ground. Ukraine has sanctioned the Rossiya Segodnya media group, calling its CEO Dmitry Kiselyov “the central figure of government propaganda supporting the deployment of Russian troops in Ukraine”. Babayeva was previously bureau chief for RIA Novosti in the United Kingdom and United States, and editor of the Gazeta.Ru website. Gazeta.Ru paid tribute to their former editor-in-chief who they said was a “professional of the highest standard”. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) regrets this tragic accident which illustrates the risks linked to the conflict for all media workers.

28.10.2022. IRAN. 20 journalists arrested. Iranian authorities must immediately release all journalists arrested because of their coverage of Mahsa Amini’s death and the protests that have followed. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) demands the release of these journalists (among them Nilofar Hamidi, photo) and the immediate lifting of all restrictions on Iranians’ right to be informed.

Read the report on PEC NEWS

25.10.2022. PAKISTAN/KENYA. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is sad to learn the death of Arshad Sharif (photo) and demanded an independent probe. He was killed Sunday night when the car he was in sped up and drove through a checkpoint outside the Kenyan capital Nairobi and police opened fire. Nairobi police expressed regret over the incident, saying it was a case of «mistaken identity». The 50-year-old journalist fled Pakistan in August amid threats to his life. Sharif was critical of Pakistan’s powerful military. He left his country after sedition charges were filed over an interview with an opposition politician during which comments deemed offensive to the military were made. The ARY news channel for which he worked as an anchor for eight years cut ties with Sharif after it was briefly taken off air in August following the controversial interview. The killing has stunned journalists in Pakistan, who have demanded a detailed probe into the incident.

Read more on PEC NEWS

09.10.2022. IRAN. Declaration of NGOs in solidarity with Iranian protesters. Following the brutal murder of a 22-year-old woman from Kurdistan province, Mahsa Amini massive protests sparked all over Iran and have continued to date spreading to all provinces of Iran.

Repressive forces have responded violently attacking protesters with tear gas, firing shotguns, and brutally beating them. The death toll has raised to over 300 and over 15,000 have been arrested. The internet is shut down. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) joins other non-governmental organizations and UN human rights experts, in supporting Iranian protesters, calling on international institutions and member states of the United Nations to strongly condemn these crimes, hold the authorities responsible for the killings accountable, predicate diplomatic relationships on the release of all arrested protesters, and finally refer Iran’s crimes against humanity to the United Nations Security Council.

Read more on https://iran-hrm.com/

Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is deeply concerned by an annual survey jointly conducted by the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) and the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (HKPORI) published Friday 23 September. Hong Kong journalists' faith in the city being a free press hub has sunk to a record low, with 97% saying the reporting environment has become much worse,

The press freedom rating for 2021 among journalists plunged six points to 26.2, a record low. When the survey was first launched in 2013, the rating was 42.  Ninety-seven percent of the surveyed journalists said press freedom had gotten "much worse" in the past year, and 93% cited "the government" as the source of suppression. In a statement, the HKJA said it believed that the environment for news reporting in Hong Kong had “drastically deteriorated over the past year.” The group cited the closure of Apple Daily last June as well as Stand News, which closed last December, and Citizen News this January. Executives and editors at Apple Daily and Stand News are currently facing prosecution under the national security legislation or the colonial-era sedition law after their newsrooms were raided. PEC deplores that an area of essential freedom in Asia is being reduced to a trickle.

14.09.2022. USA. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes the arrest of a public official in the case of the stabbing death of Las Vegas investigative journalist Jeff German (photo). PEC congratulates the local authorities who acted quickly to solve this chilling and heinous criminal act. Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles was charged with murder with a deadly weapon in the stabbing death of the reporter, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday 12 September.

German (60) was found dead with multiple stab wounds outside his home on September 2. DNA

found underneath German's fingernails and surveillance footage helped police link Telles (45) to the killing, authorities have

said. Telles lost a re-election bid in June 2022 after German reported on alleged mismanagement of his office. The Review-

Journal reported that German had been working on a follow-up story to that reporting in the weeks before he was killed. This is

the worst case of murder of a journalist in the United States since the killing of four journalists in a mass shooting in 2018 in the

newsroom of the Capital Gazette newspaper in Maryland. In March 2022, Virginian-Pilot newspaper reporter and former CNN

news assistant Sierra Jenkins was among the individuals killed in a shooting, Norfolk, Virginia.

12.09.2022. HAITI. Consternación en Haití: dos periodistas fueron asesinados y quemados. Tayson Latigue y Frantzsen Charles (photo) fueron asesinados este domingo en la comuna Cité Soleil. Las autoridades de Haití investigan el crimen de dos periodistas que realizaban un reportaje en el barrio de Cité Soleil, que ha sido escenario de fuertes enfrentamientos entre bandas que se disputan el control territorial. Se indicó que los comunicadores hacían parte de un grupo de siete periodistas que se encontraban adelantando labores periodistas, cuando desconocidos, tras asesinarlos, les prendieron fuego a sus cuerpos. Se trata de Frantzsen Charles, que trabaja para FS News, y Tayson Lartigue, de Ti Jenn Jounalis, quienes no lograron salir pese a que los otros cinco periodistas si alcanzaron a abandonar el lugar, al parecer, al notar la presencia de personas armadas. El PEC condena esta tragedia. En un año siete periodistas han sido asesinados en Haití : Marie Antoinette Duclaire, Diego Charles, Amady John Wesley, Wilgens Louissaint, Maxihen Lazarre, Frantzen Charles, Tayson Lartigue. Sin seguimiento ni justicia.

21.08.2022. RUSSIA. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the killing yesterday near Moscow of

Daria Douguina (photo, 30), a Russian journalist and philosopher. A bomb exploded under her car and

destroyed her vehicle. She apparently was not personnally targeted, but her father, a very close friend of

president Vladimir Poutine. Even if Daria Douguina was very active in local and international media to

defend the position of the Kremlin in the Ukrainian war, there is no excuse to such a criminal act.

04.08.2022. MEXICO. EL PEC CONSTERNADO : OTRO PERIODISTA ASESINADO. Suman

13 periodistas asesinados en lo que va del 2022. Este martes, Ernesto Méndez (photo), director del

medio «voz» fue asesinado en el municipio de San Luis de la Paz en Guanajuato. El homicidio se

registró cuando civiles con armas, ingresaron a un bar, propiedad de la familia del periodista para

luego comenzar a disparar. Tenía antecedentes de amenazas contra su vida. Ernesto Méndez era

director del medio Tu Voz y había trabajado en Zona Franca y el periódico El Correo. Con Ernesto, suman 13 asesinatos de

periodistas en 2022. El PEC exige al Estado Mexicano actuar de manera urgente para frenar este inquietante fenómeno. Con

este crimen han muerto 79 periodistas este año, lo mismo que en todo el año pasado.

26.07.2022. FRANCOPHONIE. Le vice-président de la PEC nommé vice-président pour l’Europe

de l’Union de la presse francophone (UPF). Le comité de la PEC félicite Jean-Philippe Jutzi pour sa

nomination dans les instances dirigeantes de l’UPF lors des assises de Marrakech (Maroc) aux côtés de la

nouvelle présidente internationale Anne Cécile Robert (photo), journaliste et professeure, directrice des

éditions et des relations internationales du Monde diplomatique. L’UPF est membre fondatrice de la PEC

et a soutenu notre association depuis sa création en 2004. Jean-Philippe Jutzi, également président de la

section suisse de l’UPF, va ainsi poursuivre dans la voie des synergies développées par notre regretté confrère Daniel Favre, des

synergies essentielles au renforcement du combat pour la protection des journalistes dans le monde. L’UPF regroupe près de

3000 journalistes dans plus de 40 pays.

30.06.2022- PEC six months report. The number of journalists killed has doubled. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is appalled by the large number of journalists killed in the first six months of 2022. The year-on-year increase is 100% with 73 victims in 18 countries since January compared to 36 deaths in the same period last year.

"The war in Ukraine and the rampant criminality in Mexico are the main reasons of this alarming deterioration", said PEC President Blaise Lempen. There must be no impunity. All these crimes must be fully investigated without exception.

Read the PEC press release on PEC NEWS (English, French and Spanish)

The UN has said its investigations have found that the shot that killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh on 11 May was fired by Israeli forces. The Palestinian-American journalist, who was wearing a vest and helmet marked “press”, was killed while covering an Israeli army operation in Jenin, in the northern West Bank.“We find that the shots that killed Abu Aqleh came from Israeli security forces,” the UN human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in Geneva. “It is deeply disturbing that Israeli authorities have not conducted a criminal investigation.” Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) calls upon the Israeli authorities to carry out a proper and full investigation in order to render justice to Shireen Abu Akleh.

Read more on our page END IMPUNITY

Media reports in Brazil claimed bodies had been found, citing Mr Phillips’ wife. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) pays tribute to the work of the courageous British journalist and his companion. Mr Phillips has reported from Brazil for more than a decade. The journalist’s sister, Sian Phillips, said in a video statement last week: “We knew it was a dangerous place but Dom really believed it’s possible to safeguard the nature and the livelihood of the Indigenous people". He paid with his life for his commitment. PEC sends its condolences to the family and friends of the two victims.

09.06.2022. BRAZIL. Dom Phillips (photo, center, 57), a British freelance reporter and regular contributor to The Guardian, went missing Sunday in the Brazilian Amazon while on a reporting trip in the Indigenous territory of the Javari Valley. Indigenous issues expert Bruno Pereira was accompanying Phillips, and is also missing. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is very worried about these disappearances and called on Brazilian authorities to launch a full investigation. Indigenous leaders on the ground, family members and peers of Mr Pereira and Mr Phillips have expressed concern that authorities’ search efforts were slow to start, and remain insufficient. The Javari Valley region has experienced repeated shootouts between hunters, fishermen and official security agents in the area, which has the world’s largest concentration of uncontacted indigenous people. It is also a major route for cocaine produced on the Peruvian side of the border, then smuggled into Brazil to supply local cities or to be shipped to Europe.

30.05.2022. UKRAINE. One more foreign journalist was killed. A French journalist, Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff (photo, 32) was killed after a car was hit near Severodonetsk. Leclerc-Imhoff worked for BFMTV. The sad news was released by the Lugansk regional governor, Serhiy Gaidaias:  "Today our armored evacuation vehicle – said Gaidai – was going to collect 10 people from the area and ended up under enemy fire. Shrapnel from the grenades pierced the armor of the car, a fatal wound in the neck was received by an accredited French journalist who was making a report on the evacuation, a policeman on patrol was saved by a helmet “. France’s foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, said Leclerc-Imhoff was killed by a Russian attack “while he was carrying out his duty to inform.” Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns this crime and calls on Russian and Ukrainian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances of his death. He is at least the 22th media worker killed in Ukraine in 3 months of war.

11.05.2022. ISRAËL/PALESTINE. Press Emblem Campaign strongly condemns the killing by Israeli forces in Jenin

(West Bank) of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh (51, photo). The Al-Jazeera’s veteran TV journalist was

covering an Israeli army raid on the Jenin refugee camp when she was shot in the face by a single bullett despite

wearing a press vest. Another Palestinian journalist Ali al-Samoudi was wounded in the back. PEC calls for an

independent investigation to hold those responsible to account for this heinous crime.

05.05.2022. Interview with Spanish photographer Guillermo Cervera: “I have covered the stupidity of the human race”.

Guillermo Cervera is a Spanish photographer named "the outsider of photojournalism" by Vice Magazine. He has covered, among other subjects, numerous wars and conflicts for more than 20 years, and has published his photos in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, El Mundo, El País, La Vanguardia, among others. He not only worked as a photographer and journalist in difficult areas, but he was also attacked several times because of his media position: in Chad where he was detained and tortured, in the Egyptian revolution where he was attacked by the police, in Libya, he was next to photographers Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, when they were killed by a mortar. For Guillermo Cervera, a war is necessarily linked to risk and it is important for journalists who go to war to be aware of this.

Read our interview on PEC NEWS (Spanish, French and English)

02.05.2022. World Press Freedom Day 2022 - Brutal deterioration

Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is alarmed at the sharp deterioration of press freedom caused

by the war in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the year, 52 media workers have paid with their

lives for doing their job. In Russia, the Kremlin's controls have created a regression in media

space unprecedented since the communist era.  On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day

on 3 May, the PEC is making an urgent appeal for a halt to hostilities in Ukraine and for the

independence of the media in Russia to be respected.

Read the PEC press release on PEC NEWS (English, French, Spanish)

20.04.2022. UNITED KINGDOM. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) deeply regrets the decision of a British judge on Wednesday formally approving the extradition of Julian Assange (photo) to the United States to face spying charges. PEC asks Britain’s interior minister Priti Patel not to grant the extradition and to release the Wikileaks founder. «Assange has already paid a very high price for his investigative work related to WikiLeaks’ publication of US classified documents on Iraq and Afghanistan. He must be released without further delay after more than 10 years of deprivation of liberty to reunite with his family and return to his country in Australia. The treatment imposed on him is inhuman», said PEC President Blaise Lempen. Assange has been held at Britain’s high-security Belmarsh Prison in London since 2019, before that, he spent seven years inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. His lawyers have four weeks to make submissions to Patel, and can also seek to appeal to the High Court.

13.04.2022. MORE JOURNALISTS KILLED IN UKRAINE. After Russia’s withdrawal, Ukrainian journalists were found murdered in Bucha and Yahidna. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is profoundly saddened by the deaths of journalists Roman Nezhyborets (photo) and Zoreslav Zamoysky and call on Ukrainian authorities to determine whether they were killed in retaliation for their work. Nezhyborets’ body was recently found buried in the northern Ukrainian village of Yahidne, and Zamoysky’s body was found in Bucha, a city near the capital of Kyiv.

Read the 4th report on the State of Media in Ukraine (April 5-11) of the PEC Representative in Ukraine on PEC NEWS

05.04.2022. UKRAINE. 3^rd PEC report on the State of Media in Ukraine during the War (March 28 - April 4) – Collection of evidence on the massacre in Bucha. After the Russian military left the Kyiv region, Ukrainian troops discovered mass graves there (photo). Massacre in Bucha city attracted a lot of attention from journalists. On April 3 and 4, hundreds of foreign journalists arrived in Kyiv to record these crimes for the world community. On April 4, President Volodymyr Zelenski met with journalists. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) stresses that journalists are key players, they are witnesses. They can contribute to the collection of evidence, which may be used in court at a later stage. Documentation of the crimes on the ground can help the justice efforts under way to identify the perpetrators. To do their job independently they need protection.

Read the report on PEC NEWS

04.04.2022. Sharp rise in journalists killed in three months. Press Emblem Campaign

(PEC) is alarmed by the large number of journalists killed in the first three months of

2022. The year-on-year increase is 153% with 38 victims in 15 countries since January (3

per week) compared to 15 deaths in the same period last year. "This dramatic rise is very

worrying. The war in Ukraine and the rampant criminality in Mexico are the main

reasons of this appalling deterioration", said PEC President Blaise Lempen (photo: photojournalist Maks Levin (40) has disappeared 13 March north of Kyiv - he was found dead near Kyiv on April 1rst)

Read the PEC press release (English, French and Spanish on PEC NEWS)

01.04.2022. YEMEN, THE FORGOTTEN WAR. PEC condemns the continuing violence targeting the media in Yemen. In Yemen, journalists face the dangers of war and air strikes, they are also targeted by the ruling parties and suffer attacks from the Houthis, Al Qaeda, and the government. Since 2014, between 38 and 45 journalists have been killed, according to PEC research. At least 16 journalists are currently in detention/kidnapped. The camera and the pen have become more dangerous than weapons for all sides, according to PEC testimonies (photo afp: funeral of a reporter, Taiz, January 2021)

Read more on PEC NEWS (English, French and Arabic)

24.03.2022. UKRAINE. ONE MORE JOURNALIST KILLED. PEC is saddened to learn that Oksana Baulina (photo), a Russian journalist with The Insider, was killed as a result of shelling in Podilsky district of Kyiv on Wednesday, the editorial office of the publication said. "She filmed the destruction after the shelling of Podilsky district of the capital by Russian troops and came under new missile fire. Another civilian was killed with her, two people accompanying her were wounded and hospitalized," the publication said. It said that in the past Baulina worked for the Anti-Corruption Foundation in Russia. After the organization was included in the list of extremist, it went abroad. Later, as a correspondent for "The Insider" (the editorial office is located in Latvia), the journalist came to Ukraine, where she worked on creating reports from Lviv and Kyiv (with Ukraine news agency). One journalist is still missing:  on March 13, Maks Levin, a freelance photojournalist and documentary filmmaker who has covered Russia’s invasions of Ukraine since 2014, went missing near the village of Huta-Mezhyhirska, in the Kyiv region.

24.03.2022. UKRAINE 2022 - HUNGARY 1956. Christian Campiche is currently the honorary president of the PEC after having been a member of its committee for several years representing the Swiss union of journalists, Impressum, whose president he was from 2015 to 2019. Today he is sharing with us his testimony regarding information on the war in Ukraine on the occasion of the publication of his historical novel situated in Hungary under communist control.

Read the PEC interview on PEC NEWS

19.03.2022. UKRAINE. The new PEC Representative in Ukraine Andrii Ianitskyi (photo) describes

in his report the state of media in Ukraine during the first weeks of the war (february 24 – March

19). Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) appeals to help the Ukrainian media in this very difficult

situation. Information on the sufferings of the population is of crucial importance. 

Read the report on PEC NEWS

15.03.2022. UKRAINE. Two journalists killed outside Kyiv, one more injured. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemns the killing of a Fox News cameraman and a Ukrainian journalist traveling with him when their vehicle came under fire outside Kyiv, according to the network and Ukrainian authorities. The cameraman, Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, and the Ukrainian journalist and producer, Oleksandra Kuvshynova (photo), were traveling in the same vehicle as the Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall, who was also injured in the attack in the town of Horenka. Mr. Hall remained hospitalized in Ukraine. The deaths of Oleksandra Kurshynova and Pierre Zakrzewski bring the death toll among journalists in the war to five. Dozens of journalists had also been wounded. Mr. Zakrzewski was a veteran reporter who covered nearly every international story for Fox News from Iraq to Afghanistan to Syria. Ms. Kuvshynova was a local journalist working with the Fox News reporting team. PEC is appalled by this already very high toll in 3 weeks of war in Ukraine. Journalists should never be the target of military action. This brings the total worldwide to a record 30 fatalities since January.

13.03.2022. AMERICAN JOURNALIST KILLED IN UKRAINE. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is deeply saddened to hear that Brent Renaud (photo), an award-winning American filmmaker and journalist, was killed in Ukraine on Sunday while reporting in a suburb of the capital, Kyiv, according to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry. Mr. Renaud, 50, had worked for a number of American news and media organizations in the past, including HBO, NBC and The New York Times. The Ukrainian authorities said he was killed in Irpin, a suburb that has been the site of intense shelling by Russian forces in recent days, but the details of his death were not immediately clear. Ukrainian officials said another journalist was wounded as well. Mr. Renaud had contributed to The Times in previous years, most recently in 2015, but he was not on assignment for the company in Ukraine (source: New York Times). It is the first reported death of a foreign journalist covering the war in Ukraine. However, half a dozen foreign journalists at least were injured and two Ukrainian journalists were killed so far. Journalists are not fighters and should not be targeted. It is a war crime.

04.03.2022. NO IMPUNITY IN UKRAINE. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) applauds the adoption by the Human Rights Council in Geneva of a resolution condemning «in the strongest possible terms the human rights violations and abuses resulting from the continuing military invasion by the Russian Federation of Ukraine», calling for the «swift and verifiable withdrawal of Russian troops» and deciding «to urgently establish an independent international commission of inquiry (…) to investigate all alleged violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law» in Ukraine. Out of the 47 current members of the Council, 32 voted in favour, with two against (Russia and Eritrea) and 13 abstentions (photo). PEC also welcomes the fact that the HRC resolution reaffirms «that the right to freedom of opinion and expression, both online and offline, is a human right guaranteed to all, reiterating in this regard the important role of free media and non-governmental organizations, and condemning any attack against journalists, newspapers and media workers» and expresses concern «at the spread of disinformation and misinformation». The resolution «stresses the importance of maintaining free, open, interoperable, reliable and secure access to the Internet, and condemns unequivocally any measures that prevent or disrupt an individual’s ability to receive or impart information online».

In this regard, PEC strongly condemns a new censorship law adopted today in Moscow by the Duma, Russia’s parliament, enabling anyone accused of publishing «false information» regarding Russia’s military to be prosecuted and potentially imprisoned.

PEC is also appalled by the attack targeting on Monday, near Kyiv, a Sky News' team. Chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay was wounded and camera operator Richie Mockler took two rounds to his body armour. Read more: https://news.sky.com/story/sky-news-teams-harrowing-account-of-their-violent-ambush-in-ukraine-this-week-12557585

Read more on PEC NEWS

01.03.2022. UKRAINE. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemns the missile attack launched today by Russian forces on the TV tower in the city of Kyiv, attempting to disrupt broadcasting (photo). Videos shared on Twitter show plumes of smoke engulfing the Kyiv TV Tower, which stands at 385m high. The tower was built in 1973 for radio and television broadcasting. PEC recalls the Security Council resolution 2222 adopted unanimously on protection of journalists 27 May 2015 condemning «all violations and abuses committed against journalists, media professionals and associated personnel in situations of armed conflict», and calling «upon all parties to armed conflict to bring an end to such practices». Article 10 «recalls also that media equipment and installations constitute civilian objects, and in this respect shall not be the object of attack or of reprisals». The Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs says that “channels will not work for a while.” “The backup broadcasting of some channels will be enabled in the near future,” it says. The Russian Defense Ministry earlier said the strikes would be "to suppress information attacks against Russia," according to a statement reported by Russian state media TASS, adding that Kyiv residents near the sites should leave their homes.

PEC supports the adoption of a resolution by the Human Rights Council on Ukraine seeking an international investigation into human rights violations by Russia. Such a probe would be important to ensure documentation and accountability for all war crimes committed in Ukraine.

PEC is also very sad to learn that TV cameraman Yevhenii Sakun was killed as a result of Russian missile strike on Kyiv's Babyn Yar, along with 4 other people. It is becoming more and more dangerous for journalists to cover this war. Although wearing bulletproof vests, two Danish reporters Stefan Weichert and Emil Filtenborg Mikkelsen sustained serious gunshot injuries when they came under fire in the northeastern city of Ohtyrka on Saturday. They have been evacuated from Ukraine.

We, the undersigned organisations, stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, but particularly Ukrainian journalists who now find themselves at the frontlines of a large-scale European war.

We unilaterally condemn the violence and aggression that puts thousands of our colleagues all over Ukraine in grave danger.

We call on the international community to provide any possible assistance to those who are taking on the brave role of reporting from the war zone that is now Ukraine. 

We condemn the physical violence, the cyberattacks, disinformation and all other weapons employed by the aggressor against the free and democratic Ukrainian press. 

We also stand in solidarity with independent Russian media who continue to report the truth in unprecedented conditions.

List of signatories on: https://ifex.org/ifex-joins-dozens-of-organisations-in-joint-statement-of-support-for-ukraine/

24.02.2022. UKRAINE. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns in the strongest terms the Russian military aggression in Ukraine contrary to international law. PEC calls on all belligerents to ensure safety of journalists, reminding that all OSCE participating States, including Russia and Ukraine, have committed themselves to adopt, where appropriate, all feasible measures to protect journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions and to condemn all attacks and violence against journalists. Journalists must be safe to do their work, under all circumstances, and to inform independently. PEC also urges all parties to refrain from spreading propaganda for war or incitement to hostility or violence. PEC calls on all journalists on the ground to take precautionary measures. We remind the belligerents of documents adopted by consensus at the UN Security Council on the safety of journalists in conflict zones, resolution 2022 adopted on 27 May 2015 and resolution 1738 adopted on 23 December 2006, as well as resolutions on the safety of journalists adopted by the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council (see on our page DOCUMENTS). PEC will follow the situation in Ukraine very closely.

23.02.2022. MEXICO. La conductora de televisión y modelo, Michelle Pérez Tadeo (photo), conocida como “Michell Simón”, originaria de Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, fue hallada sin vida y con signos de violencia en un paraje del cerro del Ajusco, alcaldía Tlalpan, al sur de la capital del país. La joven de 29 años y madre de una menor fue reportada como desaparecida desde el pasado domingo. En lo que va del 2022, en México han sido asesinados, además de la periodista Michelle Pérez, seis trabajadores de los medios de comunicación, o uno por semana. PEC esta horrorizado por esta escalade de violencia y exige que la investigación por este nuevo asesinato no descarte ninguna hipótesis.

21.02.2022. TURKEY. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the murder of Güngör Arslan (photo), the owner and managing editor of the local Ses Kocaeli newspaper in Turkey. On Saturday 19 February, Arslan was attacked in front of his office and shot in the chest and leg in the city of Izmit. He was taken to hospital, where he died of his injuries. In a written statement, the Governor’s office announced that a 21-year-old suspect had been taken into custody. PEC calls for a swift and thorough investigation and prosecution of the gunman and those who may have assisted or ordered the murder. All those responsible must be held to account. In a broadcast made before the attack, Arslan had stated that he had previously suffered attacks for “trying to do his job as a journalist”. PEC reiterates its concern about the impunity for murders of journalists in Turkey: there has been no or incomplete justice for Uğur Mumcu, assassinated outside his home in Ankara in 1993; Metin Göktepe, tortured and murdered in police custody in Istanbul in 1996; Hrant Dink, assassinated in Istanbul in 2007; Naji Jerf, gunned down in Gaziantep in 2015; Rohat Aktaş, found dead in Cizre in 2016; Jamal Khashoggi, murdered in a Saudi consulate in 2018; or Hazim Özsu, killed in Bursa in 2021.

16.02.2022. TCHAD. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) est consternée par l'assassinat du

journaliste Evariste Djaï-Loramadji (photo), correspondant de la radio chrétienne

"Lotiko", dans un  affrontement intercommunautaire qui a fait plus d'une dizaine de

morts dans le village de Sandana (Moyen-Chari), le 9 février 2022. La PEC condamne

cet assassinat barbare, et exhorte les autorités à diligenter une enquête complète et rapide et à punir le ou les coupables. La PEC

salue le courage d'un journaliste de terrain qui a fait son métier jusqu'au bout pour témoigner des affrontements. Evariste Djaï-

Loramadji est le premier journaliste tué en Afrique cette année, dans un contexte global alarmant avec déjà 19 journalistes tués

dans le monde en six semaines.

CHAD. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is dismayed by the assassination of journalist Evariste Djaï-Loramadji, correspondent for the Christian
radio station "Lotiko", in a massacre following an inter-community clash which left more than a dozen dead in the village of Sandana, 
Wednesday February 9, 2022. The PEC condemns this barbaric assassination and urges the authorities to carry out a full and rapid 
investigation and to punish the culprits. Evariste Djaï-Loramadji only did his job as a journalist by reporting on the situation until the last
 moment. PEC salutes the courage of these field journalists. Evariste Djaï-Loramadji is the first journalist killed in Africa this year, in an 
alarming global context with already 19 journalists killed worldwide in six weeks.

Communiqué de la PEC sur PEC NEWS

Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condamne la violente attaque ciblée, contre le personnel et les installations de la radio privée Capital FM, en Guinée Bissau, perpétrée le 7 février 2022, par des des hommes en uniforme militaire, lourdement armés. L'ONG appelle à des enquêtes pour identifier et sanctionner les auteurs de cette agression. Selon le témoignage recueilli par PEC auprès de Mme Indira Correia Balde, présidente du Syndicat des Journalistes et Techniciens de la Communication sociale de Guinée Bissau (SINJOTECS) : « Un groupe d’hommes armés a attaqué la radio, en tirant avec des armes AK à l’intérieur de l’édifice et détruisant tous les équipements. Il y a eu cinq blessés parmi les journalistes, techniciens et personnels administratifs qui essayaient d’échapper aux tirs.  Une journaliste qui a dû sauter du premier étage est hospitalisée, dans un état grave, et doit être évacuée au Portugal, le vendredi 11 février, pour des soins appropriés ». En effet, blessée à la colonne vertébrale et aux côtes la journaliste Maimuna Bari (photo) est dans le coma et a été évacuée au Portugal le 11 février.

Guinea Bissau: Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the violent targeted attack against the staff and facilities of the private radio station 
Capital FM, in Guinea Bissau, perpetrated on February 7, 2022, by heavily armed men in military uniform. The NGO calls for investigations
 to identify and punish the perpetrators of this attack. There were five wounded among the journalists, technicians and administrative staff 
trying to escape the gunfire. A journalist Maimuna Bari who had to jump from the first floor is hospitalized in a coma and must be evacuated 
to Portugal on Friday February 11 for appropriate treatment.

Lire le communiqué complet de la PEC sur PEC NEWS

07.02.2022. YEMEN. Take action for Yemeni journalists on death row. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) joins an appeal launched today by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) to save the lives of four journalists Abdul Khaleq Amran, Tawfiq Al-Mansouri, Harith Hamid, and Akram Al-Walidi (photo) arrested on 9 June 2015 at the Hotel Dream Castle in Sana’a. Their arrest was motivated by their reporting on human rights violations committed by Houthi forces, who charged them with “espionage for foreign states and spreading fake news”. Since their arrest, they have been subjected to a series of crimes, including forced disappearance, physical and psychological torture, denial of the right to be visited and the right to have access to medical care. These actions break all international conventions and norms on the treatment of prisoners. Now they are on death row and the IFJ and the YJS are seeking to increase pressure on the Ansar Allah to release them and push key actors across the international community to put the lives of our colleagues high on their agenda. Sign the open letter to the United Nation’s envoy to Yemen to treat this case as an urgent matter, put pressure on relevant government and intergovernmental bodies to demand that this issue has a priority in his agenda, secure the participation of YJS at the upcoming meeting of the Human Rights Council to raise this issue in particular and the critical situation of Yemeni media workers in general.

Sign the open letter:

https://the.organise.network/campaigns/teamup-world-journalists-community-urges-you-to-stand-up-for-journalists-in-yemen

In a separate development, Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) regrets the killing of journalist Mervan Yusuf in the fighting in Harad, announced today by Deputy Information Minister of Yemen Abdukbasit al-Qaidi on his Twitter account. He died Sunday while on duty covering clashes between Yemeni government forces and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in northwestern Yemen.

04.02.2022. La PEC a désigné son nouveau Représentant Régional pour l’Afrique Subsaharienne,

Touré Hamidou Elhadji (photo). Journaliste, expert Médias et Sécurité, directeur de publication du

journal en ligne malimedias.com, M. Touré est aussi notamment Coordinateur des journalistes du G5

Sahel. «Nous félicitons Hamidou Touré et nous nous réjouissons de pouvoir coopérer avec le directeur de

malimedias.com afin de mieux couvrir l’actualité africaine, comme nous le faisons pour l’Amérique

latine, l’Asie et le Moyen-Orient», a déclaré le secrétaire général de la PEC Blaise Lempen. «L’an

dernier, 12 journalistes ont été tués en Afrique, un chiffre en hausse, et il faut stopper cette tendance

alarmante», a-t-il ajouté.

Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) has appointed its new Regional Representative for Sub-Saharan Africa, Touré Hamidou Elhadji (photo). Journalist, Media and Security expert, director of online newspaper malimedias.com, Mr. Touré is also notably Coordinator of journalists of the G5 Sahel. “We congratulate Hamidou Touré and look forward to cooperating with the director of malimedias.com to better cover African news, as we do for Latin America, Asia and the Middle East,” said PEC Secretary General Blaise Lempen. “Last year, 12 journalists were killed in Africa, a figure on the rise, and this alarming trend must be stopped,” he added.

Lire le communiqué sur PEC NEWS (français et anglais)

01.02.2022. 12 journalists killed in one month, PEC demands justice to bereaved families. Expressing shock over the murder of a record number of 12 journalists killed in the first month of 2022, the global media safety and rights body Press Emblem Campaign demands justice and adequate compensation to the bereaved families. PEC laments that another journalist has been cowardly assassinated in  Mexico. The slain journalist is Roberto Toledo (photo), of 55 years of age, gunned down on Monday, January 31st, 2022, in the municipality of Zitacuaro, Michoacan. He worked for the Monitor Michoacan news outlet. Toledo is the 4th journalist killed in less than a month in Mexico. If the current continues, we could be having one journalist per week being killed in the county. PEC also condemns the murder of another journalist in Pakistan within a week, Ghulam Murtaza Shar (32), who was associated with private Urdu news channel Ummat.

Read the PEC press release on PEC NEWS (English and French)

18.01.2022. MEXICO. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the murder of 2 journalists in Mexico. A news photographer was killed in the Mexican border city of Tijuana on Monday. Photographer Margarito Martínez (photo) was well-known for covering the crime scene in violence-plagued Tijuana. He worked for the local news outlet Cadena Noticias, as well as for other national and international media outlets. Another Mexican journalist who criticized local authorities in Veracruz state died, several days after he was found badly wounded. José Luis Gamboa was the director of the online news site Inforegio. He died at a hospital in the state capital on Jan. 10, but his relatives were not informed until Jan. 14. 

Last year, in 2021, at least 1400 media workers 
succumbed to the virus, that is to say 116 par month or 
some 4 per day on average, announced Friday in Geneva
 the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC). No continent is 
spared by the pandemic. Of the 1940 journalists 
dead registered by the PEC since March 1, 2020, 
Latin America leads with half of the victims, or 955 
deaths. Asia follows with 556 dead, ahead of Europe 263,
then Africa 98 and North America  68. After a spike in 
deadly infections in the first half of 2021, the death toll slowed in the second half thanks to advances in vaccination.

03.01.2022. "En matière de technologies, nous dérivons vers le modèle chinois". Entretien publié sur heidi.news avec Blaise Lempen, secrétaire général de la PEC, sur son livre "La Dictature numérique en marche, société de l'hypersurveillance: un appel à la vigilance". "Nous critiquons à juste titre la Chine pour la surveillance de ses citoyens, son système de crédit social, une forme de goulag électronique. Mais en Occident, nous dérivons lentement vers le modèle chinois", prévient l'auteur.

Lire l'interview sur PEC NEWS

10.12.2021. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange can be extradited from the UK to the US, the High Court has ruled. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is appalled by the decision of the british justice. Julian Assange (photo, leaving court in 2020) is sentenced to more months of imprisonment and uncertainty, it is an unbearable physical and psychological torture, lamented the PEC.

The US won today its appeal against a January UK court ruling that he could not be extradited due to concerns over his mental health. Judges were reassured by US promises to reduce the risk of suicide and ordered the case must return to Westminster Magistrates' Court for a district judge to formally send it to Home Secretary Priti Patel. Mr Assange is wanted in the US over the publication of thousands of classified documents in 2010 and 2011. For the past two years and a half, Julian Assange (50) has remained in Belmarsh prison, and he has been detained since 7 December 2010 for 11 years after going into hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The right of journalists to publish material that governments and corporations find embarrassing is threatened by this legal relentlessness. PEC still hopes that the Australian can return to his country as soon as possible.

Afghanistan and Mexico are the most dangerous countries for media work this year, the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) said in its annual report in Geneva on Thursday in view of Human Rights Day. Since January, 77 media workers have been killed in 28 countries around the world.

Read the PEC press release on PEC NEWS in English, French, Spanish and Arabic -

list of victims on CASUALTIES

Of the 77 journalists murdered, 29 were in war zones (Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, DRC, Ethiopia, Gaza, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen). 62% wew killed outside conflict zones, by criminal gangs. Terrorist groups were responsible of at least 20 murders (Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen), an increase compared to previous years.

The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) rewards Indian journalist

Nava Thakuria for his relentless initiatives to safeguard the rights

of media persons in the south Asian country and defending the

press freedom in the region with an exemplary commitment.

Last year, a record number of 15 journalists were killed in India

and six more this year. The PEC award also wants to pay tribute

to some 300 journalists who died throughout India with Covid-19

complications (on the picture Nava Thakuria, far right, during a

demonstration with other media workers).

21.11.2021. SOMALIA. Journalists again among the prime targets of terrorist groups. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns in the strongest terms possible the targeted killing of the state-owned Radio Mogadishu journalist and director, Abdiaziz Mohamud Guled (popularly known as Abdiaziz Africa, photo) and the injuries of two other colleagues in Mogadishu, on Saturday night 20 November. The prominent Somali journalist who was a critic of the al-Shabab armed group was killed by a suicide bomber as he was leaving a restaurant in the capital, Mogadishu, relatives and officials said. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the blast. He became the second journalist murdered in Somalia this year. On 1 March, gunmen shot dead independent journalist, Jamal Farah Adan in Galkayo. Those responsible must be held accountable.

20.11.2021. La PEC est heureuse d’accueillir un nouveau membre dans son comité directeur. Jean-Philippe Jutzi (photo) remplace notre vice-président décédé le 7 novembre dernier Daniel Favre, membre fondateur de la PEC en 2004. Actuel président de la section suisse de l’Union internationale de la presse francophone (UPF), Jean-Philippe (66 ans) a été journaliste dans plusieurs journaux suisses de 1982 à 2003 (La Liberté, Le Matin, 24 Heures), avant de devenir le porte-parole de l’Aide humanitaire suisse de 2003 à 2005, puis le chef adjoint de la communication de la DDC (Coopération au développement) (2006-2008), et le porte-parole du chef du Département fédéral des Affaires étrangères (DFAE) en 2008 et 2009. De 2010 à 2013, il a été chargé des Affaires culturelles au DFAE et membre de Présence Suisse avant de devenir conseiller culturel à l’ambassade de Suisse en France (2013 à 2016) et chef de la section médias et culture à l’ambassade de Suisse à Pékin à partir de 2016 avant de prendre sa retraite en 2020. «Sa vaste expérience comme journaliste et diplomate à la fois en Suisse et à l’étranger sera certainement très utile au sein du comité directeur de la PEC pour renforcer notre travail de protection des journalistes à travers le monde», a déclaré le secrétaire général de la PEC Blaise Lempen. // 20.11.2021. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is pleased to welcome a new member to its steering committee. Jean-Philippe Jutzi (photo) replaces our vice-president who died on November 7, Daniel Favre, founding member of the PEC in 2004. Current president of the Swiss section of the International Union of the Francophone Press (UPF), Jean-Philippe (66) was a journalist in several Swiss newspapers from 1982 to 2003 (La Liberté, Le Matin, 24 Heures), before becoming the spokesperson for the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit from 2003 to 2005, then the deputy head of communication of the SDC (Swiss Development Cooperation Agency) (2006-2008), and the spokesperson for the head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) in 2008 and 2009. From 2010 to 2013, he was in charge of Cultural Affairs at the FDFA and member of Présence Suisse before becoming cultural advisor at the Swiss Embassy in France (2013 to 2016) and head of the section media and culture at the Swiss Embassy in Beijing before retiring in 2020. “His vast experience as both a journalist and diplomat in Switzerland and abroad will certainly be very useful within the Steering Committee of the PEC in strengthening our work to protect journalists around the world, ” said General Secretary of the PEC Blaise Lempen.

12.11.2021. Le comité de la PEC a appris avec tristesse le décès, dimanche 7 novembre 2021 à Lausanne, de l’un de ses membres fondateurs, Daniel Favre (photo), à l’âge de 82 ans // The PEC committee learned with sadness of the death, Sunday November 7, 2021 in Lausanne, of one of its founding members, Daniel Favre, at the age of 82.

Lire notre hommage sur PEC NEWS// Read more on PEC NEWS

10.11.2021. YEMEN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemns the killing of a Yemeni journalist and her child in an explosion that targeted her family’s vehicle Tuesday in Yemen’s southern city of Aden. The explosion took place in Aden’s neighborhood of Khormaksar when Rasha Abdalla (photo, with her husband and her first child) and her family were heading to a doctor, officials said. Abdalla, who works for the United Arab Emirates-based Asharq satellite television channel, was pregnant. Her husband Mahmoud al-Attomy, also a journalist, was seriously wounded and hospitalized in critical condition. It is the third journalist to be killed in Yemen in one month and the fourth this year. On October 10, two yemeni journalists were killed in an explosion targeting the governor of Aden. Perpetrators must be brought to justice. The war since 2015 in Yemen spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

05.11.2021. NUMERIQUE ET LIBERTES. Une évolution très rapide et incontrôlée des technologies de l'information et de la communication a eu lieu ces dernières années. Les milliards de capteurs déployés dans notre environnement, nos confidences sur les réseaux sociaux et les smartphones, les logiciels de pistage sur les ordinateurs, les capacités de traitement des données de l’intelligence artificielle se conjuguent pour créer une société de l’hypersurveillance. Dans son nouveau livre, "La Dictature numérique en marche - société de l'hypersurveillance: un appel à la vigilance", Blaise Lempen, journaliste, secrétaire général de la PEC, sonne l’alarme. Un débat est indispensable sur le développement de techniques invasives de manipulation des comportements et des pensées. L’avenir de la démocratie est en jeu. Le totalitarisme high-tech n’a rien d’inéluctable, à condition de percevoir la menace. L’auteur lance un appel à la vigilance, essentielle pour préserver nos libertés. Il évoque des pistes pour maîtriser la civilisation numérique en gestation : droit à la déconnexion, sobriété numérique, réglementation de la reconnaissance faciale, démantèlement des géants de la Tech.

Lien avec l'ouvrage: https://www.editions-harmattan.fr/livre-la_dictature_numerique_en_marche_societe_de_l_hypersurveillance_un_appel_a_la_vigilance_blaise_lempen-9782343246253-71497.html

Link with good resources in English:

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/internet-freedom-around-the-world-in-50-stats/

To mark the United Nations International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on 2 November 2021, the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) demands governments to bring those who threaten journalists to justice. According to PEC figures, at least 66 journalists have been killed so far this year (2 more than last year in 10 months). Mexico and Afghanistan remain the most dangerous countries for journalism. "There is no progress for the safety of media workers and killers of journalists still get away with murder. No crime must go unpunished", stressed PEC Secretary-General Blaise Lempen.  No one has been held to account in 81% of journalist murders during the last 10 years, CPJ’s 2021 Global Impunity Index has found. Two journalists were killed in Mexico in the last three days. On Thursday, Mexican journalist Fredy López Arévalo (photo) was shot dead outside his home in San Cristobal de las Casas in the state of Chiapas. Lopez, who was a correspondent for El Universal in Guatemala in the 1990s, worked for the Central American magazine Panorama and was in charge of the Notimex office in Chiapas. He also was head of information in the newspaper Novedades and published articles in the magazine Proceso. On October 31, in Acapulco, photojournalist Alfredo Cardoso died from his wounds. PEC strongly condemns those new cowardly murders which brings the total figure for Mexico to 10 journalists killed since January.

More on our pages PEC NEWS, CASUALTIES and NO IMPUNITY

08.10.2021. NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. The Press Emblem Campaign warmly congratulates journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov (photo) who have won the Nobel Peace Prize for their fights to defend freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia. « PEC welcomes the choice of the Nobel committee on the very day of the 15th anniversary of Anna Politkovskaya’ murder. It is a posthumous tribute and an encouragement for all journalists and organizations fighting for press freedom and against impunity », said PEC General Secretary Blaise Lempen.

Ms Ressa, who co-founded the news site Rappler in 2012 , openly critical of President Rodrigo Duterte, was commended for using freedom of expression to "expose abuse of power, use of violence and growing authoritarianism in the Philippines". The Nobel committee said Mr Muratov, the co-founder and editor of independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, had for decades defended freedom of speech in Russia under increasingly challenging conditions. Six of its reporters, including Anna Politkovskaya, have been murdered because of their journalistic work. October 7, 2021 marks 15 years since journalist and human rights defender Anna Politkovskaya was killed in Moscow for her brave work bringing to light human rights abuses in the conflict in Chechnya. The PEC again urges that all of those involved in her murder be identified and held accountable for their crimes.

Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condena este nuevo asesinato y pide a las autoridades que realicen una investigación completa y que lleven ante la justicia a los responsables de la ejecución del periodista Manuel González Reyes (photo) en Cuernavaca, en el estado mexicano de Morelos. La encuesta debe considerar la labor periodística como uno de los motivos del asesinato. México es el pais más violento del mundo para el gremio periodístico y cada año se registran numerosos asesinatos y asaltos contra la prensa por parte del crimen organizado y de autoridades. Manuel González Reyes es el séptimo periodista asesinado en México en 2021.

07.09.2021. AFGHANISTAN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is sad to hear of the death of Fahim Dashti (photo), the spokesperson of Resistance Front in Afghanistan’s northeastern province of Panjshir, who was killed in fighting in the province on Sunday. Dashti was the editor of Kabul Weekly and a member of the Federation of Afghan Journalists. When Taliban invaded Afghanistan, he joined the resistance. The death of Fashim Dashti brings to 10 the number of media workers killed this year in Afghanistan since January, making it the most dangerous country in the world for journalists. The PEC calls on the country's new authorities to ensure the safety of journalists and to respect press freedom.

The Taliban must immediately cease detaining journalists, end the use of violence and beating against them, preventing them from filming, and allow the media to operate freely, added the PEC. In the last few days, the Taliban briefly detained at least 14 journalists covering protests in Kabul, according to reports.

Read more on PEC NEWS

Alireza Ahmadi (left), a reporter for the Raha News Agency, and Najma Sadeqi (right), a presenter at Jahan-e-Sehat TV channel, according to the AFJC (Afghanistan Journalists' Center), were killed in the suicide attack on August 26 that also claimed the lives of more than 180 people including 13 US military personnel amid a chaotic evacuation effort. The Afghan affiliate of the ISIL (ISIS), known as the Islamic State Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K), claimed responsibility for the attack. The Press Emblem Campaign strongly condemns the attack and is saddened at the deaths of yet two more journalists in Afghanistan. The Kabul’s airport deaths bring to 9 the number of media workers killed this year in Afghanistan since January, making it the most dangerous country in the world for journalists. The PEC renews its concern to the safety of journalists at this critical juncture and urges the international community to evacuate all journalists and NGOs members at risks who want to leave the country, before it's too late.

15.08.2021. AFGHANISTAN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is very concerned by the rapidly changing situation in Afghanistan. Over the past 20 years, independent media has proliferated in Afghanistan. As the Taliban are gaining power across the country, journalists are coming under increasing attack. Those who defy the Taliban face threats, pressure, kidnapping and murder. Female journalists are at greater risk due to their public role.

The PEC is gravely concerned about the wellbeing of local journalists as well as journalists reporting for international media. Seven journalists and media workers including four women have already lost their lives in 2021. Suspected Taliban fighters killed Toofan Omari (photo) a manager of the privately-owned media center Paktia Ghag in Deh Sabz district in Kabul on Sunday 8 August and kidnapped Nematullah Hemmat, a journalist in southern Helmand province.

The PEC calls on all governments to ensure the protection of courageous journalists who continue to do their work in Afghanistan. The Taliban must respect press freedom and journalists’ safety if they want to give a positive image to the world.

08.08.2021. AFGHANISTAN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemns the targeted killing of the director of Afghanistan's media and information centre Dawa Khan Menapal (photo), assassinated by Taliban militants in Kabul on Friday. The Taliban said he had been "punished for his deeds". The PEC is very worried by the deterioration of press freedom in Afghanistan as journalists have come under increasing threat, in a bid by the Taliban to silence voices of dissent in the war-torn country. The PEC welcomes recent announcements by Britain and the United States to offer refuge to Afghan journalists who worked with British and US-based media outlets and are under threat from the Taliban.

30.07.2021. MALTA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes the conclusions of a 437-page inquiry into the October 2017 assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia (photo). The report said the state of Malta should shoulder responsibility for her death. It concluded that a culture of impunity was created from the highest echelons of power and singled out former prime minister Joseph Muscat (who resigned in January 2020 amid allegations that his right-hand man Keith Schembri was involved in the murder) for enabling this culture of impunity. It found his entire cabinet collectiverly responsible for their inaction in the lead up to the assassination. The board said all the evidence heard throughout the inquiry led to a conviction that Caruana Galizia's assassination was either intrinsically or directly linked to her investigative work.

"This long-awaited report is an important milestone in the fight against the culture of impunity. We call on all governments around the world to draw the lessons of this inquiry in order to better protect the work of journalists. We fully support the recommendations of the inquiry board. Anyone involved must be held accountable. We once again congratulate Daphne's family for its courage and perseverance in shedding light on this shameful crime", said PEC Secretary-General Blaise Lempen.

Read more on our page END IMPUNITY

16.07.2021. AFGHANISTAN. Very sad news: Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui (photo) was killed in Afghanistan clashes. On July 13, the Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist was travelling with the Afghan Special Forces when the Taliban attacked near Kandahar. Reuters India chief photographer Danish Siddiqui was killed on Friday in crossfire while reporting about clashes, according to the news agency.

The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the brutal killing of Danish Siddiqui, the sixth journalist killed in Afghanistan since the start of this year. Our thoughts are with his family and his colleagues. The PEC demands Afghan authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the killing and calls on all parties to the conflict to guarantee the protection of journalists in the current transition period.

06.07.2021. 35 journalists killed in first six months of 2021 - At least 1580 journalists dead from Covid-19

In the first six months of the year, 35 journalists were killed in 21 countries around the world, the Emblem Campaign Press (PEC) reported on Tuesday. Afghanistan was the most dangerous country with five journalists killed. The casualty figure is stable compared to the previous year (photo: the most recent victim Diego Charles, killed on 30 June in Port-au-Prince)

The Covid-19 pandemic also continues to claim many victims among media workers. Since March 2020, the PEC has identified more than 1580 journalists dead from Covid-19 in 78 countries. The number of victims slowed during the month of June, especially in India, with around 60 dead, compared to more than 200 in the world in May. Latin America witnessed the highest casualties, with more than half of the victims.

Read the PEC press release on PEC NEWS (English, French, Spanish and Arabic) - consult our page CASUALTIES for the journalists killed and our page COVID-19 for journalists dead from Covid-19

07.06.2021. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) announced in Geneva on
Monday that the pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 1,500 
journalists in 77 countries around the world. We deplore a record number 
of deaths in May, more than 200 in one month. According to the PEC tally, 
media in India have paid the heaviest price for the novel corona virus, with at 
least 246 deaths since March 2020. Brazil follows India closely with 239 
journalists who died from the corona virus, ahead of Peru 163 and Mexico 112.

04.06.2021. THE GENEVA CALL TO FREE JULIAN ASSANGE // APPEL DE GENEVE A LIBERER JULIAN ASSANGE.  On the occasion of a press conference and the inauguration of the statues of David Dormino in Geneva, the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) signed the Geneva call to free Julian Assange and launched an urgent appeal to the new United States administration and to President Joe Biden to rescind their request for extradition to the United States and to authorize the British judicial system to free Julian Assange immediately, for humanitarian reasons. It is time to close this case, which has already gone on far too long, and to allow Julian Assange to join his family and return to his country.

Photo pec: the statues of Snowden, Assange and Manning in Geneva

Read on PEC NEWS the appeal launched by the PEC (English and French) and the Geneva call to free Julian Assange open for signature (English and French)

Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture 

Stella Morris, Julian Assange's fiancée 

Frédérique Perler, Mayor of Geneva 

Yves Daccord, Director General of the ICRC (2010 - 2020)

Carlo Sommaruga, State Councillor, Swiss Parliament 

Antoine Vey, Julian Assange's attorney 

Christophe Deloire, director general, Reporters Without Borders

Jean Rossiaud, former geneva parliamentarian, initiator of the Swiss visa idea for Assange,

Blaise Lempen, secretary general, Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) 

John Rees, British author, activist 

Davide Dormino, sculptor (AnythingToSay?), member of DiEM25 

Sarah Ducret, Association des Usagers des Bains des Pâquis.

23.05.2021. BELARUS. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemns the hijacking of a Ryanair plane to arrest Raman Pratasevich (photo of the video after his arrest in Minsk), a prominent journalist and opponent of Belarus’s president Alexander Lukashenko. "This operation of banditry and state terrorism is another escalation in the repression of independent media in Belarus", said PEC Secretary-General Blaise Lempen. "We demand the immediate release of the journalist and his girl friend arrested by illegal means", he added.

A spokesman in Minsk said President Lukashenko personally ordered that a MiG-29 fighter jet accompany the plane – which was travelling from Athens to Vilnius in Lithuania – to an airport in Minsk. Mr Pratasevich is a co-founder of the Telegram messaging app’s Nexta channel, which Belarus last year declared as extremist after it was used to help organise major protests against Mr Lukashenko. Mr Pratasevich, who had fled the country for Poland, faces charges that could carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years. Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called on the International Civil Aviation Organisation to begin an investigation. “It is absolutely obvious that this is an operation by the special services to hijack an aircraft in order to detain activist and blogger Raman Pratasevich,” she said. Belarus continued to take action against the opposition and independent news media. Last week, 11 staff members of the TUT.by news website were detained by police. The PEC asks the democratic countries to sanction the illegal methods of the authoritarian regime.

23.05.2021. MALI. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) joins other media and associations to demand the release of French journalist Olivier Dubois (photo), after French Foreign Affairs minister Jean-Yves Le Drian confirmed on Sunday that he was probably taken hostage by Islamist militants in West Africa's Sahel region. He disappeared on 8 April in Mali's northern city of Gao and then appeared on 5 May in a video appealing to authorities to do everything they can to free him from the JNIM (al Qaeda North Africa) holding him. The Sahel is one of the world’s most dangerous regions for journalists. Two Spanish journalists, David Beriain and Roberto Fraile, were killed on 26 April in neighbouring Burkina Faso #FreeOlivierDubois already detained since 45 days

18.05.2021. PEC press release: India has overtaken Brazil in the number of journalists dead from Covid-19, the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) announced in Geneva on Tuesday. At least 1,356 journalists have died in 76 countries from the coronavirus since March 2020. India has just passed the milestone of 200 journalists dead from Covid-19, just ahead of Brazil (194). In India, 68 journalists have died from Covid since the beginning of May, an average of four a day, a majority of them in their 40s or 50s.

Read the PEC press release in English, French and Spanish on PEC NEWS, list of victims on Covid-19

para português (Brasil) leia:

https://mediatalks.uol.com.br/2021/05/18/mais-da-metade-dos-jornalistas-vitimas-da-covid-19-e-da-america-latina/

15.05.2021. ISRAEL/GAZA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) urges the United Nations to call for an international investigation on the destruction by the Israeli defence forces of a building housing the offices of the Associated Press and Al Jazeera Network in Gaza (photo). Even if media staff working in the building have been evacuated following a warning by the Israeli forces, media offices are protected under international law. The targeting of news organisations is completely forbidden and represents a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions. The PEC condemns this war crime, the second attack in one week on media offices.

13.05.2021. ISRAEL/GAZA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the targeting of media offices in Gaza city by the Israeli forces. The offices of 13 media organisations in Al-Jawhara tower were destroyed in the bombing of the Israeli warplanes on the night of 11 May. There were no injuries as journalists evacuated their offices after the Israeli army warned some of the media that the building would be bombed. However media organisations lost their equipment. On 13 May, an Israeli airstrike destroyed Gaza City’s Al-Shorouk Tower, a 14-storey building that housed seven media outlets. The Israel Defence Forces said they were “striking Hamas weapons stores hidden inside civilian buildings in Gaza.” The PEC suspects an Israeli attempt to silence Palestinian media.

According to UN Security Council Resolution 2222 adopted in May 2015 on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, media offices must be protected. The UN resolution «recalls that media equipment and installations constitute civilian objects, and in this respect shall not be the object of attack or of reprisals, unless they are military objectives», and «calls upon Member States to create and maintain, in law and in practice, a safe and enabling environment for journalists, media professionals and associated personnel to perform their work independently and without undue interference in situations of armed conflict». The PEC urges all the belligerents to respect their international obligations.

29.04.2021. The Covid-19 pandemic had a devastating impact 
on the media. The human cost of the pandemic is very high:
more than 1,200 journalists have died from the novel coronavirus 
since March 2020 in 75 countries.
The situation is particularly  alarming in India: in the past two weeks,
at least 50 journalists have succumbed to the virus, 3,5 per day.

27.04.2021. BURKINA FASO. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemns the murder of two Spanish journalists and one Irish citizen on Monday in Burkina Faso. David Beriain and Roberto Fraile (photo) were in the Pama area of the country, making a documentary on poaching in the region. The area is a dangerous one, where terrorist groups, poachers, bandits and jihadists operate. The journalists were embedded in a patrol of some 40 Burkinabe anti-poaching troops, which was attacked by armed individuals. The PEC sends its condolences to the families of the victims. Authorities in Burkina Faso must ensure that those responsible are found and brought to justice.

26.04.2021. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The Press Emblem Campaign is shocked by the murder of a young journalist in Kansas City. Aviva Okeson-Haberman (photo), a KCUR reporter, has died after suffering a gunshot wound in her Kansas City apartment. She was 24.

Aviva joined the radio KCUR in June 2019 as the Missouri politics and government reporter. In her nearly two years at KCUR, Aviva covered a host of issues, ranging from corruption in Clay County and medical marijuana to the conflicting pandemic restrictions in differing Kansas City area cities and inequities in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. The PEC calls for a full investigation of this tragic incident. Homicides in Kansas City have increased in the last few years, mostly due to gun violence.

Read more on: https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-04-25/kcur-reporter-and-beloved-colleague-aviva-okeson-haberman

22.04.2021. MYANMAR/BURMA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) calls for the unconditional release of all journalists in Myanmar. "The arrested journalists face sedition laws under section 505 (a) of Myanmar penal code that may put them behind the bars for around three years. The military authority run Myanmar Radio and Television continues to broadcast the name of wanted journalists under the specified rules, which is appalling,” said PEC general secretary Blaise Lempen. Over 65 journalists performing their job were arrested/detained since the military coup on 1 February.

Read more on PEC NEWS

13.04.2021. PEC press release. More than a thousand journalists have died from Covid-19 around the world // Comunicado de prensa de la PEC. Más de mil periodistas han muerto por la Covid-19 en todo el mundo // Communiqué de presse PEC. Plus d’un millier de journalistes sont morts du Covid-19 dans le monde

Read the PEC press release (English, Spanish, French and Arabic) on PEC NEWS

29.03.2020. MYANMAR. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes the release of Associated Press journalist Thein Zaw (photo). He has been released from detention in Myanmar three weeks after he was arrested on February 27 for covering a protest against the country’s military coup. Thein Zaw told the Associated Press by phone following a court hearing on Wednesday that all charges had been dropped because he was doing his job at the time of his arrest. The PEC is relieved that Thein Zaw has been freed from prison, but additional journalists there remain detained. We urge Myanmar to release all journalists and allow them to report freely and safely on what is happening inside the country. We strongly condemn the increasing violence, restrictions on Internet access, on publication and broadcasting by media outlets in the country.

Read the PEC statement on PEC NEWS

02.03.2021. AFGHANISTAN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemns the killing of three female workers of the Enikas TV network in the eastern Jalalabad city, capital of the Nangarhar province on Tuesday. "They were going home from the office on foot when they were shot in two separate attacks in Qasaba and Arabzai areas of the city," Zalmai Latifi, the director at Enikas TV said. According to the network director, Mursal Waheedi, Saadia Sadat, and Shahnaz Raoufi (photo) all three employees worked in the dubbing department for the broadcaster. 

26.02.2021. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes a long-awaited US intelligence report released Friday according to which Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation to capture or kill journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018. The report "the Saudi Government's Role in the Killing of Jamal Khashoggi" says: «We assess that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. We base this assessment on the Crown Prince's control of decisionmaking in the Kingdom, the direct involvement of a key adviser and members of Muhammad bin Salman's protective detail in the operation, and the Crown Prince's support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, including Khashoggi. Since 2017, the Crown Prince has had absolute control of the Kingdom's security and intelligence organizations, making it highly unlikely that Saudi officials would have carried out an operation of this nature without the Crown Prince's authorization» (end quote). The PEC is relieved that all light has been shed, even only more than two years after the journalist's atrocious death in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, but further steps are needed to fight impunity. #EndImpunity

Read the statement of UN Rapporteur Agnès Callamard on our page END IMPUNITY

Caruana Galizia was murdered in Malta on October 16, 2017, in a car bomb attack (photo).

Read more on our page END IMPUNITY

18.02.2021. BELARUS. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the intensification of the crackdown on the media in Belarus. On Thursday, a Belarusian court sentenced two Belarusian journalists from Poland-based TV news channel Belsat to two years in prison. Katsiaryna Andreyeva, 27, and Darya Chultsova, 23, were detained in an apartment in November from where they had been filming protests taking place over the death of a protester who was killed several days earlier. Both women are not guilty, they have just done their job documenting the demonstrations. They must be release unconditionally (Photo epa: Katerina Andreyeva gave a victory sign in court, next to Daria Chultsova).

On Tuesday, police in Belarus raided the Minsk headquarters of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), and the apartments of two of BAJ’s employees and independent journalits. Police officers confiscated mobile phones, laptops, and money. The PEC reminds the authorities in Minsk that journalists have the right to to their work in a safe environment without interference. Belarusian authorities must put an end to their relentless harassment of journalists and press freedom organizations. Dozens of journalists have been arrested during opposition protests since the August 2020 election.

12.02.2021. MYANMAR. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL.

PEC welcomes the adoption by consensus of a resolution on the situation in Myanmar after the

military coup last week at a special session of the Human Rights Council Friday in Geneva. The

UN deputy human rights chief and the independent expert on Myanmar Tom Andrews (photo)

have called for targeted sanctions against the leaders of the coup. The human rights body has demanded “the immediate and unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained” since the military coup on 1 February and for the state of emergency imposed by the military to be lifted. The resolution also called for the restoration of the elected government and for UN monitors to be granted access to the country. It urged Myanmar's military to "ensure that members of civil society organisations and the media are able to operate freely and without fear of violence, harassment or intimidation." And it calls for the "immediate lifting of restrictions on the Internet, telecommunication and social media," as well as "safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to all people in need."

07.02.2021. International Day of Solidarity with Belarus. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) joins other organisations to demand the release of all journalists detained in Belarus. At least 11 journalists and media workers are in detention. For more than two months now, Katsiaryna Andreyeva and Darya Chultsova (photo), reporters for Poland-based TV channel Belsat, have been held behind bars. Both are charged with violating the public order for their reporting on rallies in the capital Minsk and will face trial at the Frunzensky District Court of Minsk on February 9. Overall, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) has documented 477 detentions of journalists in 2020. PEC condemns Belarus’s crackdown on press freedom which continues six months after the presidential election. Last week, Swiss TV Russia correspondent, Luzia Tschirky, has been detained in Minsk for three hours without any justification. #StandWithBelarus

04.02.2021. LEBANON. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemns the murder of a prominent Lebanese writer and  opponent of Hezbollah who was found dead in his car in southern Lebanon on Thursday morning, hours after going missing as he drove to Beirut. Police said Lokman Slim (photo), 59, a well-known political commentator, had been shot in the head. The PEC calls for a thorough investigation into this shocking murder. Slim was the founder of Shia Watch.

21.01.2021. ETHIOPIA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemns the killing of journalist Dawit Kebede Araya (photo) in Mekelle, the capital of the northern state of Tigray. Ethiopian authorities must conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the killing of the journalist and hold those responsible to account. In the evening of January 19, unidentified attackers shot and killed Dawit, a reporter with the state-owned broadcaster Tigray TV, and his friend, Bereket Berhe, while they were driving near Dawit’s home in Mekelle, according to news reports. The Ethiopia Human Rights Council, an independent watchdog group, alleged that unspecified government security forces had killed Dawit and Bereket.

02.01.2021. AFGHANISTAN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the killing of Afghan radio journalist in car ambush, first media person to be killed in 2021. Besmullah Adel Aimaq (28), editor-in-chief of Voice of Ghor radio, was killed en route to Firoz Koh city, the capital of Ghor province, said Aref Aber, the governor’s spokesman. He is the fifth journalist slain in Afghanistan in the past two months.

El Premio 2020 para la Protección de Periodistas otorgado a la periodista mexicana Carmen Aristegui

06.10.2020. UNITED NATIONS. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. 
The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) welcomes the adoption by consensus 
by the Human Rights Council of a new resolution on the safety of 
journalists, in particular reporting on the pandemic. The PEC welcomes 
the decision to request the High Commissioner to present to the Human 
Rights Council in one year a report on the impact  and repercussions 
of measures taken by governments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
 (photo: Ambassador Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger, Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations Office at Geneva, president 
of the Council for 2020)

26.02.2020. PAKISTAN. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) in Geneva mourns the death of two journalists in Pakistan. Javedullah Khan, 36, was shot dead Tuesday in Matta, in the Swat Valley (northwest of the country) when two gunmen opened fire on his vehicle. He worked as a bureau chief for the Urdu language newspaper Ausaf. A local police official confirmed that it was a targeted attack. Many of his relatives were killed  due to their involvement in anti-Taliban peace committees. It is the second journalist killed this year in Pakistan after Aziz Memon (photo) , who worked for the privately-owned Sindhi TV channel KTN News and Sindhi-language Daily Kawish. He was found strangled to death in an irrigation ditch near the town of Mehrabpur (Sindh) on 16 February. The PEC condemns these murders and calls for independent investigations. Pakistan ranks among the world’s most dangerous countries for media workers.

Trabajaba como locutora de radio en La Poderosa, en Ciudad Juárez, una de las ciudades fronterizas entre México y Estados Unidos con alta presencia del crimen organizado. Recientemente se habia manifestado, desde sus redes sociales, en contra del asesinato de Fatima, femicidio que por sus resonancias aun conmueve a gran parte del pais. El PEC exige a las autoridades que garanticen el pronto esclarecimiento de lo ocurrido y la condena a los responsables. Es la primera periodista asesinada este año en México. El año pasado, 14 periodistas fueron asesinados en México.

16.02.2020. SOMALIA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is sad to learn the heinous murder of journalist Abdiweli Ali Hassan (photo) in Agfoye, south of Mogadishu. The reporter was working with Universal TV. He was attacked by two unidentified gunmen who shot him in the head. The killing of the journalist is the first in Somalia in 2020. Last year, three media workers were killed in Somalia, one of the most dangerous countries for media. The PEC calls on local authorities to investigate this crime, bring its perpetrators to justice and to better ensure the safety of journalists who informs the public at great risk.

13.02.2020. PARAGUAY. Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condena el 
asesinato del periodista brasileño Lourenço Leo Veras (photo) encargado 
del portal web Pora News y corresponsal de varios medios brasileños 
en Pedro Juan Caballero en la frontera con Brasil. El PEC exhorta a las 
autoridades a realizar una investigación completa y exige proteccion de 
los colegas de la zona ante la inseguridad  reinante.

06.02.2020. SYRIA. Media activist killed in Idlib. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemns the killing of Amjad Aktalati (photo), on February 4 in Ariha in Idlib countryside by Russian airstrikes. The brave media activist worked for several media outlets, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights. Amjad's last post on Facebook was "The situation is so catastrophic." This killing reminds us that the war in Syria is still raging. According to the United Nations, Russian-Assad offensive against opposition-held areas in Syria has displaced more than half a million people in two months, since 1 December, 80% women and children. In another incident, two journalists and two cameramen were injured on 3 February while covering the clashes near Aleppo city between the Syrian army and arned groups: reporter Diaa Qadour and Ibrahim Kahil, cameraman for al-Alam TV, Kinanah Aloush, a correspondent for Sama TV and Souhaib al-Masri cameraman of Al Kawthar TV. In a separate incident, Wafa Shabruni, a reporter working for Russia Today, was severely injured by ammunitions left by militants at Maarret-en-Nuuman in the province of Idlib. The PEC demands that the safety of journalists be guaranteed by all the belligerents.

23.12.2019. Saudi Arabia sentences five to death for murder of Jamal Khashoggi. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) regrets that the Saudi court had failed to bring the real perpetrators to justice. Masterminds walk free one more time.

Five men have been sentenced to death and another three face a total of 24 years in prison for their roles in the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last year. However, the investigation concluded “the killing was not premeditated …. The decision was taken at the spur of the moment,” the deputy public prosecutor and spokesperson Shalaan bin Rajih Shalaan said, reading the verdict in the Saudi capital on Monday. Three senior figures, including the de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s former top adviser, Saud al-Qahtani, were cleared of wrongdoing during the trial. The verdict contradicts the conclusion of the CIA and other western intelligence agencies that Prince Mohammed directly ordered Khashoggi’s assassination. Khashoggi, a US-based columnist for the Washington Post who was critical of the Saudi government, was killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October last year. The 59-year-old’s body has not been found and is thought by Turkish investigators to have been dissolved in acid. UN special rapporteur Agnès Callamard said in a tweet on Monday that the trial’s conclusion was a “mockery” and the “antithesis” of justice.

19.12.2019. DEMO IN GENEVA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) demands the immediate release of Julian Assange

"Assange and WikiLeaks have documented serious violations of humanitarian law in Afghanistan and Iraq. To enforce the law, it is necessary to make known the abuses. Assange did only his job of journalist, he must be freed on humanitarian grounds", PEC Secretary-General Blaise Lempen said at the demo in Geneva in front of the UN building.

Read the Press Release in French, English and German on PEC NEWS

06.12.2019. Speak Up for Assange. Julian Assange (photo), founder and publisher of WikiLeaks, is currently detained in Belmarsh high-security prison in the United Kingdom and faces extradition to the United States and criminal prosecution under the Espionage Act. He risks up to 175 years emprisonment for his part in making public the leak of US military documents from Afghanistan and Iraq, and a trove of US State Department cables. The legal action underway against Mr Assange sets an extremely dangerous precedent for journalists, media organizations and the freedom of the press. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) joins today an appeal launched by more than 120 journalists and journalistic organizations around the globe, expressing our grave concern for Mr Assange's wellbeing, for his continued detention and for the draconian espionage charges. In a democracy, journalists must reveal war crimes in conflict zones without having to go to jail. It is the very role of the press to act in the public interest. The PEC requests that Assange be released on medical and humanitarian grounds.

Read the statement on PEC NEWS - To sign go to: speak-up-for-assange.org

14.10.2019. MALTA. JUSTICE FOR DAPHNE. NEVER AGAIN IN THE EUROPEAN UNION. Wednesday 16 October marks two years since the brutal assassination of Malta’s investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) reiterated its call to the Maltese authorities to prosecute all those involved in planning and carrying the attack.

Although three men have been formally charged with her murder, those who ordered her killing remain at large. The Maltese authorities’ recent announcement to launch a public enquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia is a long overdue and essential step towards justice. The PEC supports the Caruana Galizia family’s call to ensure the full independence and impartiality of the inquiry. The Geneva-based NGO renews its congratulations for his exemplary courage to the family of Daphne who has received in June 2018 the PEC Award for the protection of journalists. In this regard, the PEC welcomes the statement of the new commissioner tasked with defending democracy and the rule of law in the European Union Vera Jourova on Monday 7 October telling MEPs at her hearing that "we definitely must do more" on media freedom "and support journalists whose safety is under threat". Jourova told MEPs she had promised the mother of murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia to scrutinise the investigation into her death and promised her son Matthew (photo with his brother Paul) to better protect journalists. NO IMPUNITY ! NEVER AGAIN SUCH A CRIME IN THE EUROPEAN UNION !

02.10.2019. KHASHOGGI. ONE YEAR AFTER. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) is grateful to UN Special Rapporteur Agnès Callamard and UK media freedom envoy Amal Clooney (photo) for recommending a UN Standing Instrument to investigate killings of journalists.

In an interview published by The Guardian, Amal Clooney (photo) said that a “glaring gap” exists in the world’s ability to investigate targeted state killings of human rights defenders and journalists such as Jamal Khashoggi. The international human rights lawyer also said she expected a specialist legal panel, set up by the UK government and due to report soon, to champion a new standing UN investigatory mechanism into such killings. The UN Special Rapporteur Agnès Callamard has herself called for such a mechanism, saying there is “a large accountability deficit”. The PEC has repeatedly called on the United Nations to establish such an international mechanism, to fill the gaps in prevention, protection and prosecution.

The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) has today in Geneva handed over the award to its Executive Director Ahmad Quraishi (photo). "Afghanistan is at a crossroad. Freeedom of the press is at stake. Terrorist groups are a constant threat to civilians and journalists", said the PEC Secretary-General Blaise Lempen at the PEC Award press conference at the Geneva Press Club. "The AFJC works to defend rights of Afghan journalists, the safety of journalists in a very dangerous conflict zone and to ensure freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Afghanistan. They deserve our support", he added. Ahmad Quraishi thanks the PEC for honoring the AFJC. "Taliban, IS (Islamic State group) and constant abuses by warlords, drug mafia and corrupt officials constitute a permanent threat and fear to journalists, the media, and in general freedom of expression/press in Afghanistan", said the AFJC Executive Director. He confided his fear that "we may go back to the dark era experienced under the Taliban". He called upon the international community who supported the Afghan young democracy in the past two decades to uphold the values gained .

Ahmad Quraishi Director of the Afghanistan Journalists Center, receiving the PEC Award 2019 from the PEC Secretary-General Blaise Lempen, with His Excellency Ambassador of Afghanistan to the United Nations Nasir Andisha (photo pec)

Read the press release English and French, speeches, biography on our page PEC AWARD

16.09.2019. AFGHANISTAN AT THE CROSSROAD. FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AT STAKE. PEC AWARD 2019: INVITATION TO A PRESS CONFERENCE AT THE GENEVA PRESS CLUB

The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) has been chosen this year to receive the PEC annual award. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) will handed over the award to his Executive Director Ahmad Quraishi (photo) on Thursday September 19, 2019.

Invitation to a press conference with:
His Excellency Nasir Andisha Afghan Ambassador to the UN in Geneva
Ahmad Quraishi director of the Afghanistan Journalists Center in Kabul

Caroline Trautweiler Deputy Regional coordinator South Asia Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
Blaise Lempen Secretary-General of the Press Emblem Campaign

Thursday 19 September at 2.30pm - Swiss Press Club, Geneva

Afghanistan is at the crossroad. Democracy and freedom of the press are threatened. Terrorist groups have killed 17 journalists last year and 7 more this year. The director of the Afghan Journalists Center Ahmad Quraishi is in Geneva to receive the PEC annual award for the protection of journalists and will give his testimony. His Excellency Ambassador of Afghanistan to the United Nations Nasir Andisha will analyze the political situation at a critical moment: the United States want to withdraw their troops but negociations with the Talibans are deadlocked.