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Over 1500 prosecutors from over 90 countries attended training on Investigating and Prosecuting Crimes against Journalists
UNESCO and the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) have successfully concluded a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Investigating and Prosecuting Crimes against Journalists, Promoting Freedom of Expression. The course took place from 27 February to 24 March 2023.
The MOOC aimed to stimulate an international dialogue among prosecutors and legal professionals about freedom of expression and the effective prosecution of crimes against media workers. Over 1,660 prosecutors and legal professionals from more than 90 countries worldwide, including legal practitioners, journalists, university professors and students, participated in the training.
In many states, politicians are stifling the voice of free speech. This course is very useful for legal professionals to tackle the situation in a legal way.
The five-module training programme has strengthened the participants’ abilities regarding international and regional standards on freedom of expression. It has also highlighted the crucial role of prosecutors in effectively investigating and prosecuting crimes against media professionals. While providing a platform for enhanced regional and international cooperation among prosecutors and legal practitioners for ending impunity for crimes against journalists, the course enabled the participants to gain a deeper understanding of national and regional strengths, challenges, opportunities and threats in the context of protecting journalists and their sources, victims, and witnesses.
The topic of promoting freedom of expression is timely for me as some legislators in our country are also moving for the decriminalization of libel. Thank you for this course!
Sabin Ouellet, former Chief-Prosecutor from Canada, and Simon Clements, former Chief Crown Prosecutor from the United Kingdom, led the course. Notably the course was based on the UNESCO-IAP’s Guidelines for Prosecutors on Cases of Crimes Against Journalists, available in 20 languages. These guidelines offer valuable insights on the proper conduct or supervision of investigations, the identification of stages and determination for proceedings in cases of crimes against journalists, and the proposal of a series of elements to consider when investigating and prosecution such cases.
The course is very relevant, considering the prevalence of crimes against journalists that go unprosecuted. It is a necessary booster for media defence kind of lawyers. I am looking forward to more of such trainings.
The MOOC also included interventions from high-level experts in the field of human rights and freedom of expression, such as Chile Eoboe-Osiji, former ICC Judge and Professor; Marcela Turati, Investigative Journalists and Co-founder of Quinto Elemento Lab ; Simon Walker, Chief of the Rule of Law and Democracy Section from OHCHR; Paul Coppin, Deputy Director and Head of the Legal Desk from Reporters Without Borders; and Barbara Nascimento, State Prosecutor from Rio de Janeiro.
Excellent learning and knowledge growth experience. The materials and delivery were excellent, and the speakers were passionate and knowledgeable. I loved it and I am grateful to have participated, I now feel equipped to take on this issue which is crucial for the preservation of democracy worldwide.
Since 2020, UNESCO and the IAP have been collaborating to strengthen prosecutors’ capacities in investigating and prosecuting crimes against journalists, through the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This cooperation has resulted in the organization of a five-day international training course for prosecutors on investigating and prosecuting crimes against journalists, in 2022 in Siracusa, Italy, as well as UNESCO’s participation in the IAP’s 27th Annual Conference and General Meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia.
The global online training course for prosecutors was organized within the framework of the UNESCO Judges’ Initiative. The Initiative has raised the capacities of over 25,500 judicial actors (judges, prosecutors and lawyers) in more than 150 countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Arab region on international and regional standards on freedom of expression, access to information and the journalist safety since 2013.
The Initiative has created a series of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), held training workshops, and released a number of toolkits and guidelines.
The course was supported by the Multi Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists as well as the Open Society Foundations.
