International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists - 2023 Global Commemoration

08:00 - 09:00 -  Registration at the Organization of American States (OAS) Hall of the Americas. 

09:00 - 10:30 - Opening ceremony of the global commemoration

Artistic performance by Vivir Quintana, singer, composer

Welcome and opening remarks:

• Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the OAS 
• Tawfik Jelassi, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, UNESCO 

Keynote speeches by:

• Margaret Macaulay, IACHR President 
• Birgitta Tazelaar, Co-Chair, Media Freedom Coalition and Netherlands Ambassador to the United States 

Address by:

• Justice Imani Daud Aboud, President, African Court for Human and Peoples Rights 

Testimony from:

• Danish Karokhel, Director & Editor-in-Chief, Pajhwok Afghan News

Panel discussion:

•  Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion
• Jodie Ginsberg, President, CPJ

10:30 - 11:30  - Session 1

Safety of journalists in elections and crisis contexts:  risks to democracies

This session will delve into the security, violence and attacks against journalists and communicators during election periods and crisis contexts, as well as the specific obligations and responsibilities of States, officials and electoral authorities in these contexts. Participants will be able to delve into the integrity of elections, the risks faced by democratic institutions, as well as other issues related to journalistic coverage, protests and discrimination against women journalists during election cycles and other crisis contexts.

Moderator: Santiago Cantón, Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)

Testimonies from:

• Patience Nyange, Executive Director, Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK)
• Nataliya Gumenyuk, Co-Founder, Public Interest Journalism Lab, Ukraine

Panel discussion:

• Zoe Titus, Chairperson, Global Forum for Media Development, Executive Director, Namibia Media Trust 
• Ambassador Salah S. Hammad, Head of African Governannce Architecture Secretariat, African Union
• Gerardo de Icaza, Director, Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation, Organization of American States 

• Arif Zulkifli, Chairperson, Law Commission, Indonesian Press Council

   

11:45 - 12:45 - Session 2

Flash talk - Combating impunity: obligations of the States and the role of public officials in building trust in the media

Participants will be able to discuss the specific role of public officials, particularly the obligation they have to prevent attacks on the press through their speech. They will also be able to reflect on what is the situation in each region regarding the use of public speech to increase or decrease the safety of journalists. 

Moderator: Ruth Kronenburg, Executive Director, Free Press Unlimited

Testimonies from:

• Xenia Hernández, National Project Coordinator of Florida International University

   

Panel discussion:

• Guilherme Canela, Chief for Freedom of Expression And Safety of Journalists, UNESCO
• Hon. Neema Lugangira, Chair, African Parliamentary Network on Internet Governance and Member of Parliament, Tanzania
• Dzenana Burek, Executive Director of the Press and Online Media Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Pedro Vaca Villarreal, IACHR Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression

Panel followed by a Q/A session

14:00 - 15:00 - Session 3

Making Impunity Visible: Initiatives towards preservation of cases and memory of killed journalists

This session will feature various initiatives by actors in fighting impunity for crimes against journalists. Initiatives spotlighted will include memorials, innovative investigative reports, artistic representation, media campaigns, and symbolic trials, among others. The session seeks to highlight some of the current initiatives and inspire new ways of mobilizing innovating strategies in combating impunity and keeping the memory of killed journalists alive. 

Moderator: Michael Greenspon, President, Inter-American Press Association (IAPA)

Testimonies from:

• Les Amis de Ghislaine et Claude 
• Hang Samphors, Team Leader, Cambodian Female Journalists 

Panel discussion:

• Evelien Wijkstra,  Policy and Advocacy Director, Free Press Unlimited
• Barbara Cochran, Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation
• Victor Coello Munoz, Pixel and Pixel
• Selay Marious Kouassi, Network of African Investigative Journalists and Editors (NAIRE). 
• Jineth Bedoya, journalist, El Tiempo

15:15 - 16:15 - Session 4

Multistakeholder session: The future of the media and safety of journalists

This session aims to bring together various actors and duty bearers in the same space, with the objective of discussing the challenges in terms of violence and attacks faced by journalists, and the future of journalism. Some challenges that have not been discussed so far and that may be addressed are surveillance, media sustainability, protest contexts and the closing of civic space.

Moderator: Ian Phillips, Director News and Media Division, United Nations

Testimonies from:

• Swe Win, Editor, Myanmar Now

Panel discussion:

• Jeff Marder, Executive Director, Human Rights and Indigenous Policy, Global Affairs Canada
• Andrew Heslop, Executive Director - Press Freedom, World Association of News Publishers: WAN-IFRA
• Dr. Julie Posetti,  Deputy Vice President and Global Director of Research, International Center for Journalists (ICFJ)
• Laxman Datt Pant, Chairperson, Media Action Nepal, and Co-Chair of the Media Freedom Coalition’s Consultative Network
• Stuti Khemani, Senior Economist, World Bank

Statements on Way Forward:

• Helena Kuzee, Deputy Permanent Representative Namibian Mission to the United Nations

• Nicole Cardoch Ramos, Undersecretary, General Secretariat of Government, Chile

   

16:30 - 18:00 - Closing ceremony

 Symbolic event to be held at the Art Museum of the Americas

• Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the OAS 
• Margarette May Macaulay, IACHR President 
• Jose Uriel Sanchez Ordoñez, Relative of journalist Moisés Sánchez Cerezo
• Ricardo Rivas, Relative of murdered journalist in Ecuador Paul Rivas
• José Luis Sanz, Advisor for the Media Integrity Center
• Leopoldo Maldonado, Regional Director for Mexico and Central America, ARTICLE 19
• Tawfik Jelassi, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, UNESCO  
• Pedro Vaca Villarreal, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Special performances by:

• Stephanie Mercedes, artist
• Vivir Quintana, singer, composer

08:00 - 09:00 - Arrival and registration

09:00 - 09:30 - Opening of the anniversary celebration of the Special Rapporteur's Office

Moderator: Pedro Vaca V., OAS Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression

• Margaret May Macaulay, IACHR,  President
• Tawfik Jelassi, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, UNESCO (confirmed)  
• Alejandra Solano Cabalceta, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the Organization of American States and Secretariat of the Core Group of Friends of Freedom of Expression and Journalism of the OAS

09:30 - 10:30 - Session 1

Online Violence and discrimination: journalists as a target and the role of journalism in combating online violence and discrimination

This session will address online violence and discrimination against journalists and communicators, who are often targeted for their coverage of issues of public interest or fact-checking activities. It will consider the differentiated risks and attacks suffered by certain groups such as women journalists. Emphasis will also be placed on the active role of journalism and the media in preventing and combating violence and discrimination in digital environments.

Moderator: Catalina Botero, Co-chair of the Oversight Board of Meta and director of the UNESCO Chair on Freedom of Expression at the Universidad de Los Andes 

Panel discussion:

• Alex Walden, Global Head of Human Rights, Google
• Agneris, Sampieri, Latam Policy Analyst, Access Now 
• Jeje Mohamed, Senior Manager for digital safety and free expression, PEN America, (Coalition Against Online Violence)
• Lázara Cristina de Nascimento de Carvalho, Chief of Staff of the National Secretariat of Justice and Executive Coordinator of the National Observatory of Violence against Journalists and Communicators 
• Carlos Cortes, Founder and co-director of the internet and society center Linterna Verde 
• Cristina Tardáguila, founder of Agência Lupa

10:45 - 11:45 - Session 2

Building safe spaces for journalism in Latin America and the Caribbean

This Panel seeks to exchange views and visions on the reality of diaspora media professionals, who are faced with multifaceted challenges that have a lasting impact on their careers, personal lives and well-being. During this session, panelists will share their views and visions on the reality of forcibly displaced journalists. A panel of journalists and specialists, as well as organizations that work with journalists, will discuss the challenges faced in the region and the articulation of comprehensive responses. 

Moderator: Rosa María González, Regional Advisor of Communication and Information for Latin America and the Caribbean, UNESCO 

Panel discussion:

• Zuliana Lainez, Vice President, International Federation of Journalists and the Federation of Journalists of Latin America and the Caribbean (FEPALC) 
• José Luis Sanz, Washington correspondent, El Faro 
• Carlos Lauria, Executive Director-elect, Inter American Press Association (IAPA) 
• Mauricio Weibel, President of the Society of Latin American Correspondents (SOCOLAC) 
• Gypsy Guillén Kaiser, Chief of Advocacy, Committe to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
• Nicholas Benequista, Senior Director, Center for International Media Assistance at National Endowment for Democracy

Closing remarks: 

• Eduardo Bertoni, Former Rapporteur for freedom of expression, and Representative & Coordinator, Inter American Institute of Human Rights (IIHR)

12:00 - 13:00 - Session 3

Strategic lawsuits against public participation: a mechanism for silencing the press under the guise of legality

This session will address the topic of strategic lawsuits against public participation (known as SLAPPs), which are filed not to vindicate a legal claim but to punish or harass the defendant for participating in public life. Participants will talk about the restrictions that this type of judicial mechanism generates on freedom of expression, the pressures it imposes on journalists and communicators, as well as the impediments to their critical and investigative reporting. They will also discuss the duty of the State to regulate and control these mechanisms and the strategies that can be implemented to protect journalists in this type of situation.

Moderator: Edison Lanza, Former rapporteur for freedom of expression and Non-resident Senior Fellow, Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program at the Inter-American Dialogue

Panel discussion:

• Barbora Bukovska, Senior Director, Law and Policy, ARTICLE 19 
• Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur for freedom of expression and opinion
• Snezana Green, Director, Reporters Shield Program 
• Rubens Valente, Brazilian journalist and columnist, Agência Pública
• Manuel Cepeda, Member of the High-Level Panel of Legal Experts of the Media Freedom Coalition

14:30 - 15:30 - Session 4

Death, Exile and Incarceration

This session will address some of the main challenges that threaten the survival of the press in the Americas: murder, exile and imprisonment. Emphasis will be placed on the murder of journalists as the most extreme form of censorship, as well as the high rates of impunity, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean, which are the areas with the highest rates of killings of journalists in the Americas. Participants will also discuss the forced exile of journalists, which is increasingly one of the main options to confront the escalating repression by the government, as well as the imprisonment of those who report on matters of public interest. 

Moderator: Ignacio Álvarez, Former Rapporteur for freedom of expression and Co-Chair of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) Human Rights Interest Group 

Panel discussion:

• Erin Barclay, US-DRL Coordinator for Global Democratic Renewal in the Office of the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Human Rights and Democracy and senior official for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
• José Carlos Zamora, Director of Communication and Impact, Exile Content Studio 
• Juan Lorenzo Hollman, Nicaraguan journalist and general manager of La Prensa
• Jacques Desrosiers, Secretary of the Haitian Journalist Association (AJH)
• Bertha Michelle Mendoza, correspondent, CNN en Español

15:45 - 16:45 - Session 5

25 years of the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression: Challenges and prospects

This session will review the history, main achievements and challenges of the Office of the Special Rapporteur for the defense of Freedom of Expression in the Americas. It will also highlight emblematic cases of the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court, with the special participation of victims. The session will host victims whose cases on freedom of expression have been decided in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. 

Introduction: Agustina del Campo, Director, Center for Studies on Freedom of Expression, CELE 

Moderator: Guilherme Canela, Chief of the section of Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists, UNESCO

Panel discussion with former OAS Special Rapporteurs for Freedom of Expression:

• Eduardo Bertoni, Representative & Coordinator, Inter American Institute of Human Rights (IIHR)
• Ignacio Álvarez, Co-Chair of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) Human Rights Interest Group
• Catalina Botero, Co-chair of the Oversight Board of Meta and director of the UNESCO Chair on Freedom of Expression at the Universidad de Los Andes
• Edison Lanza, Non-resident Senior Fellow, Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program, the Inter-American Dialogue 

Closing remarks :

• Pedro Vaca Villarreal, OAS Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
• Tania Reneaum, Executive Secretary of the IACHR