The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) will hold the closing act of the session on crimes against journalists and freedom of expression on September 19, 2022, at the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague, from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. CET (HERE the video presentation of the event)
The PPT proceedings were opened in response to a request received from Free Press Unlimited, Committee to Protect Journalists, and Reporters Without Borders, which submitted severe data to the Tribunal regarding 1,400 journalists killed since 1992. According to the organizations, in between 86% to 90% of these cases, none of the perpetrators were brought to justice.
Following the opening hearing on Nov. 2, 2021, three more hearings were held in April and May 2022 on cases related to the governments of Mexico, Sri Lanka, and Syria that are considered representative of the global impunity scenario. According to the petitioning organizations, the impunity “not only has serious consequences for those seeking justice for the murder of their loved ones but also affects the ability of society as a whole to inform itself and enter into dialogue and debate”.
The reading of the PPT judgment will be followed by a press conference organized to commemorate all journalists killed for their work.
The panel of judges, convened by the PPT President and Secretary General, Gianni Tognoni, is composed, in alphabetical order, of Eduardo Bertoni (Argentina), Former Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; Marina Forti (Italy), indipendent journalist; Gill H. Boehringer (Australia), former dean and honorary senior research fellow of the School of Law, Macquarie University in Sydney; Mariarosaria Guglielmi (Italy), magistrate, vice-president of Medel (Magistrats Européens pour la Démocratie et Libertés); Helen Jarvis (Australia-Cambodia), former head of the Victim Support Section of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) and Vice-President of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal; Nello Rossi (Italy), former judge of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Criminal Section, and Vice-President of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal; Kalpana Sharma (India), indipendent journalist; Philippe Texier (France), former magistrate of the French Court of Cassation and President of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal; and Marcela Turati Muñoz (Mexico), indipendent journalist.
AIR STREAMING AND LIVESTREAM
To receive the zoom link and participate to the live streaming (in English), please, register at the following link:
https://www.freepressunlimited.org/en/closing-hearing-peoples-tribunal-murder-journalists
Alternatively, the proceedings can be followed in Livestream.
PROGRAMME
Access to the Programme available in English.
MORE INFORMATION
Event presentation: English
Opening Hearing: English
Mexico case: English
Sri Lanka case: English
Syria case: English
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The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) is an international opinion tribunal that is competent to judge any type of crime committed causing injury to people and minorities. It was established in Bologna in 1979 thanks to the intuition of jurist and politician Lelio Basso, on the basis of the framework defined in the Universal Declaration of the Rights of People (1976). Established as a direct continuation of the Russel Tribunals on Vietnam (1966-67) and Latin America (1973-76), it was then transformed into a permanent institution, able to give a voice and visibility to those people facing a lack of their rights, and impunity. The Tribunal is built around a network of 70 internationally recognized experts and actors, who are then appointed for the PPT panel of judges for each session. Through its 50 sessions and judgments, the Tribunal has given visibility to several cases of serious human rights violations, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. It has recently expanded the scope of its competence to include economic, ecological, and systemic crimes.
