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According to statistics compiled by UNESCO, as many as 700 journalists have perished in the line of duty in the last decade, 540 of them killed in the last six years.

On Monday, the world marked the Second Annual International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, to commiserate with media personnel who have been killed disseminating information for the benefit of the broad mass of the people across the globe.

The day was instituted by the UNESCO last year in memory of two journalists who were killed in line of duty in Mali, in 2013. It is regrettable to note that in the year 2012, as many as 123 journalists were killed.

UNESCO laments that of all these killings only six percent of the perpetrators have been brought to justice. “The near complete impunity for the perpetrators of crimes against journalists goes against everything that we stand for, our shared values; our common objective,” said Inna Bokova, UNESCO Director-General, in an official statement published on the organization’s website.

“In the past six years, I have publicly and unequivocally condemned more than 540 cases of killings of journalists, media workers and social media producers who generate significant amount of journalism,” Ms. Bokova stated.

“The near complete impunity for the perpetrators of crimes against journalists goes against everything we stand for, our shared values, our common objectives,” she added. Ms. Bokova stated that anytime the perpetrator of a crime is allowed to escape punishment, it emboldens other criminals and creates a vicious cycle of violence warning that attacks on journalists were on the rise.

She announced that UNESCO was spear-heading a UN Plan of Action on the safety of journalists and the Issue of Impunity the organization was working with other United Nations agencies across the world; with governments, civil society, academia and the media itself.

“This work is bearing fruit,” she announced triumphantly. “The United Nations General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, as well as the United Nations Security Council have all adopted landmark resolutions, specifically addressing these obstacles – as has the Council of Europe.

United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, was saddened by the needless loss of media workers for “reporting the truth,” underscoring the importance of protecting the rights of newsmen and ensuring that they could perform their duties without let or hindrance.

“More than 700 journalists,” he lamented, “have been killed in the last decade …one every five days for bringing news and information to the public. Many perish in the conflicts they cover so fearlessly. But all too many have been deliberately silenced for trying to report the truth,” the UN Secretary-General said in his message to mark the Second World Day.

The world’s leading civil servant was worried that only seven percent of cases involving crimes against journalists were resolved and that less than one crime out of 10 was ever fully investigated. He was worried that such impunity deepened fear among journalists and enabled governments get away with censorship.

“We must do more to combat this trend and make sure that journalists can report freely. Journalists should not have to engage in self-censorship because they fear for their lives,” urged the UN boss. He called for collective action to end the cycle impunity and safeguard the right of journalists to speak the truth.”

In Accra, the day was marked at a public forum at the International Press Centre, headquarters of the Ghana Journalists Association. It was under the theme: ‘Ending Impunity Against the Media’. Ironically, Inspector General Mohammed Alhassan, whose men and women in the black uniform have the worst record in terms of impunity against journalists in Ghana, was penciled in to lead the discussion.

The Inspector General was out of town and was ably represented by DCOP Rev. David Nenyin Ampah-Bennin, Director-General of Police Public Affairs. The event was chaired by Mr. Kabral Blay-Amihere, a veteran journalist and chairman of the National Media Commission with a good number of old and young journalists, including my humble self, in attendance.

The Media Commission boss recalled those heady days, just before and after the culture of silence was broken in Ghana, when the head offices of the GJA on the Korle Bu Road and at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, became a refugee camp for journalists fleeing persecution in this country, as well as other West African nations.

He did not elaborate. But those of us with hindsight of history understood him to be referring to those days when the governance process in the country itself was carried out with impunity. It was an era in the life of the Ghanaian, when a mere radio announcement could change one’s sleeping place.

Introducing the guest speaker, who was a student when Mr. Blay-Amihere was Director of the Ghana Institute of Journalism, the chairman invited young and upcoming journalists to take a cue from the life experience of the Director of the Police Public Affairs Department. “The sky,” the Chairman of the Media Commission stressed, “is the limit.”