The Safety of Journalists

A/HRC/RES/33/2No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2016.

What other versions does this mandate have?

6 versions · 2014–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/59/15

2025A/HRC/RES/59/15The safety of journalistsLatestCompare with previous version
2022A/HRC/RES/51/9The safety of journalistsCompare with previous version
2020A/HRC/RES/45/18The safety of journalistsCompare with previous version
2018A/HRC/RES/39/6The safety of journalistsCompare with previous version
2016A/HRC/RES/33/2The safety of journalistsCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

16 topics

Administration of Justice Arbitrary Detention Crime Prevention Digital Technology Freedom of Information Gender-Based Violence Human Rights Monitoring Human Rights Violations Impunity International Cooperation International Obligations Journalists Law Enforcement Mass Media Report Preparation Right to Security of Person

What does this mandate say?

26 operative paragraphs

Condemns unequivocally all attacks and violence against journalists and media workers, such as torture, killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrest and arbitrary detention, intimidation, threats and harassment, including through attacks on or the forced closure of their offices and media outlets, in both conflict and non-conflict situations;

Also condemns unequivocally the specific attacks on women journalists in the exercise of their work, including sexual and gender-based discrimination and violence, intimidation and harassment, online and offline;

Strongly condemns the prevailing impunity for attacks and violence against journalists, and expresses grave concern that the vast majority of these crimes go unpunished, which in turn contributes to the recurrence of these crimes;

Urges States to do their utmost to prevent violence, threats and attacks against journalists and media workers, to ensure accountability through the conduct of impartial, prompt, thorough, independent and effective investigations into all alleged violence, threats and attacks against journalists and media workers falling within their jurisdiction, to bring perpetrators, including those who command, conspire to commit, aid and abet or cover up such crimes to justice, and to ensure that victims and their families have access to appropriate remedies;

Calls upon States to create and maintain, in law and in practice, a safe and enabling environment for journalists to perform their work independently and without undue interference, including by means of (a) legislative measures; (b) supporting the judiciary in considering training and awareness-raising and supporting training and awareness-raising among law enforcement officers and military personnel, as well as among journalists and civil society, regarding international human rights and humanitarian law obligations and commitments relating to the safety of journalists; (c) the regular monitoring and reporting of attacks against journalists; (d) publicly, unequivocally and systematically condemning violence and attacks; and (e) dedicating the resources necessary to investigate and prosecute such attacks;

Also calls upon States to develop and implement strategies for combating impunity for attacks and violence against journalists, including by using, where appropriate, good practices such as those identified during the panel discussion held on 11 June 2014 and/or compiled in the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,4 inter alia:

The creation of special investigative units or independent commissions;

The appointment of a specialized prosecutor;

The adoption of specific protocols and methods of investigation and prosecution;

The training of prosecutors and the judiciary on the safety of journalists;

The establishment of information-gathering mechanisms, such as databases, to permit the gathering of verified information about threats and attacks against journalists;

The establishment of an early warning and rapid response mechanism to give journalists, when threatened, immediate access to the authorities and protective measures;

Further calls upon States to implement more effectively the applicable legal framework for the protection of journalists and media workers in order to combat pervasive impunity, including through enforcement mechanisms with the capacity to pay systematic attention to their safety;

Urges States to bring their laws, policies and practices fully into compliance with their obligations and commitments under international human rights law, and to review and, where necessary, amend them so that they do not limit the ability of journalists and media workers to perform their work independently and without undue interference;

Urges the immediate and unconditional release of journalists and media workers who have been arbitrarily arrested or arbitrarily detained, taken hostage or who have become victims of enforced disappearances;

Calls upon all States to pay particular attention to the safety of journalists during periods of elections and while covering events in which persons are exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, taking into account their specific role, exposure and vulnerability;

Calls upon States to ensure that measures to combat terrorism and preserve national security or public order are in compliance with their obligations under international law and do not arbitrarily or unduly hinder the work and safety of journalists, including through arbitrary arrest or detention, or the threat thereof;

Also calls upon States to protect in law and in practice the confidentiality of journalists’ sources, in acknowledgement of the essential role of journalists in fostering government accountability and an inclusive and peaceful society, subject only to limited and clearly defined exceptions provided in national legal frameworks, including judicial authorization, in compliance with States’ obligations under international human rights law;

Emphasizes that, in the digital age, encryption and anonymity tools have become vital for many journalists to exercise freely their work and their enjoyment of human rights, in particular their rights to freedom of expression and to privacy, including to secure their communications and to protect the confidentiality of their sources, and calls upon States not to interfere with the use of such technologies, with any restrictions thereon complying with States’ obligations under international human rights law;

Also emphasizes the important role that media organizations can play in providing adequate safety, risk awareness, digital security and self-protection training and guidance to journalists and media workers, together with protective equipment and insurances, where necessary;

Stresses the need to ensure better cooperation and coordination at the international level, including through technical assistance and capacity-building, with regard to ensuring the safety of journalists, and encourages national, subregional, regional and international human rights mechanisms and bodies, including the relevant special procedures of the Human Rights Council, treaty bodies and national human rights institutions, in the framework of their mandates, to continue to address the relevant aspects of the safety of journalists in their work;

Invites United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, other international and regional organizations, Member States and all relevant stakeholders, when applicable and in the scope of their mandates, to cooperate further in promoting awareness of and implementing the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, and to this end calls upon States to cooperate with relevant United Nations entities, in particular the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, relevant special procedures of the Human Rights Council and international and regional human rights mechanisms;

Invites States to share information on a voluntary basis on the status of investigations into attacks and violence against journalists, including in response to requests by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization through the mechanism operated by its International Programme for the Development of Communication;

Encourages States to continue to address the issue of the safety of journalists through the process of the universal periodic review;

Requests the High Commissioner to prepare a report with an overview of available mechanisms concerned with ensuring the safety of journalists, including existing international and regional prevention, protection, monitoring and complaint mechanisms, with a view to providing an analysis of their effectiveness, in consultation with States, the mechanisms themselves and all other relevant stakeholders, and to submit it to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-ninth session;

Decides to continue its consideration of the safety of journalists in accordance with its programme of work.

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What does this mandate say?

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