The letters were sent as part of a three-week campaign led by the IFJ to raise the awareness of the level of impunity in those five targeted countries, calling on governments to account for the lack of investigation and punishment of journalists' killers, attackers and harassers.
IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: "We urge governments of Israel, Peru, the Philippines, Somalia and Ukraine to take diligent action to counter their apparent indifference to deadly attacks on journalists. There is so much more to be done to fight impunity and allow journalists to work without fear or threat of being killed. It is time for justice for victims of violence."
Read letters sent to:
- Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel for the killings and harassment of journalists in Palestine;
- Martín Vizcarra, President of Peru for the lack of investigation into the killings of journalists in Peru;
- Rodriguo Duterte, President of the Philippines for the lack of punishment of killers of journalists in Amputuan and beyond
- Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, President of Somalia for the killings and harassment of journalists in Somalia;
- Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine the lack of investigation and punishment of journalists' killers in Ukraine.
Read letters sent to those countries' ambassadors in Brussels:
- Simona Frankel, Israeli Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg
- Gonzalo Gutiérrez Reinel, Peru's Ambassador to Belgium
- Eduardo José A. De Vega, Philippine ambassador to Belgium
- Ali Saïd Faqi, Somali Ambassador to Belgium
- Mykola Tochytskyi, Ukrainian Ambassador to Belgium
The IFJ calls on its affiliates to join the campaign and hold governments to account for the pervasive level of impunity for crimes against journalists.