The capacity of journalists to report on events in real-time is crucial, and intimidating or killing members of the media must not be permitted to persist without consequences.
This is according to International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Dr Naledi Pandor, who spoke at the second Shireen Abu Akleh Memorial Lecture at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) on Wednesday.
Abu Akleh was a prominent Palestinian-American journalist, who worked as a reporter for Al Jazeera. She was killed by an Israeli soldier while wearing a blue press vest and covering a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The lecture, organised by the Faculty of Humanities at UJ, centred on the role of academic institutions during periods of genocide.
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Pandor said the lecture occurs against a “troubling” backdrop of an evident decline in media freedom.
She is of the view that academics and institutions must allocate more time to address the decline and the escalating threat to free expression.
“In the past, journalists knew they would enjoy robust and active protection from fearless colleagues, who would risk their lives to protect them. The decline we are witnessing cannot simply be explained away by citing wireless, social media or other technologies.”
This week marks two years since the assassination of Abu Akleh, who Pandor described as a beloved veteran journalist, who dedicated her life to the pursuit of justice and truth.
“To date, no one has been held accountable for her death despite the global outrage, and there has been no reported progress in the investigation at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and silence with regards to any other investigation,” the Minister said.
She cited the United Nations (UN) Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which “concluded on reasonable grounds that Israeli forces used lethal force without justification under international human rights law” when they shot and killed the journalist, violating her right to life.
Pandor bemoaned the situation for journalists in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which she said has become increasingly grave over the past seven months.
She cited Committee to Protect Journalists data which revealed that as of 23 April this year, at least 97 journalists and media workers are among the 35 000 that have been killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023.
Pandor is of the view that the targeting of journalists in the Occupied Territories is part of a pattern of silencing the free press and is an outright contravention of international law.
“International human rights law obligates an occupying power to allow for freedom of expression and protests. The ability of journalists to cover events as they take place is essential, and efforts to intimidate and assassinate members of the media should not be allowed to continue with impunity.”
International human rights law, Pandor said, obligates an occupying power to allow for freedom of expression and protests.
“If Shireen were alive today, she would have been in the trenches in Gaza, reporting day and night on the atrocities taking place in the hopes that the world would take notice and show their solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
Pandor believes that Abu Akleh would have been devastated by the destruction of civilian life in Gaza and the global tolerance of the unending suffering of the Palestinian people, many of whom have died agonising deaths trapped under rubble.
“She would have been reporting on the immense suffering of survivors in Gaza, who are now battling unprecedented hunger and starvation, as well as continuous military assaults by the Occupying Forces.”
Despite the International Court of Justice ruling, the Minister said the Israeli state has continued its murderous assault on the people of Gaza with impunity, killing more civilians, injuring thousands, the continued bombing of homes and other buildings and infrastructure, affecting every possible avenue of life of the residents of Gaza.
“The lack of accountability by Israel is increasingly clear.”
Crimes against humanity
The Minister said the evidence of the mass killings of civilians points to the perpetration of war crimes, crimes against humanity.
International humanitarian law prohibits attacks on civilians and non-combatants, underlining the need to protect human life during times of war, Pandor said.
She stressed that South Africa continues to call on the ICC to prosecute these war crimes and to issue arrest warrants for those leaders in Israel who have ordered and presided over these crimes.
“The slowness to investigate and prosecute those responsible for these war crimes necessitates greater mobilisation among the youth and civil society around the globe to ensure that justice for the Palestinians is realised.
“It is time for collective action and for us to champion the call for the implementation of UN resolutions and rulings of the world’s highest court. We owe this to the people of Palestine and the memory of Shireen Abu Akleh,” Pandor said.
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