International Prosecutors Association-UNESCO Sign MOU to Address Crimes Against Journalists

Establishment of 'Work Guidelines' Covering Investigation, Prosecution, and Trial... Focus on Enhancing Work Competence
Hwang Cheol-gyu, IAP President, "Will Equip Top-Level Crime Response Against Crimes Targeting Journalists"

The International Association of Prosecutors and UNESCO jointly conducted an "International Training Course on Criminal Investigations of Journalists and Protection of Freedom of Expression" for 23 prosecutors from 13 countries in Sicily, Italy, from the 14th to the 18th of last month, and are taking a commemorative photo afterward. / Provided by the International Association of Prosecutors

[Asia Economy Reporter Huh Kyung-jun] The International Association of Prosecutors (IAP, chaired by Hwang Cheol-gyu) and UNESCO have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strictly respond to crimes against journalists worldwide and have established the ‘IAP-UNESCO Prosecutor Work Guidelines.’

On the 27th, IAP announced that from the 14th to the 18th of last month, it jointly held an ‘International Training Course on Investigation, Prosecution of Crimes Against Journalists, and Protection of Freedom of Expression’ with UNESCO in Sicily, Italy, for 23 prosecutors from 13 countries.

According to UNESCO, over the past decade, more than 1,200 journalists worldwide have been killed in the course of reporting, averaging one death every four days. Serious injuries, kidnappings, disappearances, and detentions have continued to increase, with many crimes occurring while investigating politically and socially sensitive large-scale corruption cases.

In particular, international criticism surged when it was revealed that 9 out of 10 murder cases against journalists ended without any judicial action. As calls grew louder for mechanisms enabling effective criminal justice procedures from the early stages of crime occurrence in individual countries, IAP and UNESCO jointly responded by signing the MOU and announcing the work guidelines.

The prosecutor work guidelines for responding to crimes against journalists focus on enhancing prosecutors’ capabilities from the initial stages of cases to final criminal punishment, ensuring that related crimes, which were mostly left unpunished in the past, are now strictly prosecuted.

The guidelines have been translated into 18 languages and distributed worldwide. The U.S. National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) expressed support for the guidelines and emphasized that prosecutors should play a key role in responding to related crimes by actively utilizing them in practice. Additionally, the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at the University of Oxford in the UK has used the guidelines as teaching materials in online training for law enforcement officials worldwide to strengthen international standards on freedom of expression.

Going forward, IAP and UNESCO plan to actively promote specialized training courses for prosecutors worldwide on crimes against journalists in cooperation with national prosecution training institutions and related international organizations. Based on the global network of prosecutors built over the past 27 years, they aim to uncover the substantive truth of crimes against journalists and ensure strict punishment commensurate with the crimes.

Hwang Cheol-gyu, Chair of IAP, emphasized, "Due to the nature of crimes against journalists, prosecutors need to have a high level of expertise in investigation, prosecution, and trial processes. Recently, many related crimes have taken the form of transnational crimes, making effective international cooperation a decisive factor in the success of investigations and prosecutions."

He added, "By combining UNESCO’s accumulated information, experience, and expertise on crimes against journalists with IAP’s robust global network of prosecutors and global prosecutor education system, focused training can equip prosecutors with the highest level of crime response capabilities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.