The Lebanese Press Editors’ Syndicate commemorated, on World Press Freedom Day, the martyrs of the word and the truth who have fallen over the decades, stressing that “martyrdom is one, no matter how varied the positions and affiliations of those who attain it,” amid the continued targeting of journalists during wars and conflicts.
The syndicate said in a statement: “The Lebanese Press Editors’ Syndicate commemorated, on World Press Freedom Day, its martyrs ‘who watered the plant of dignity and liberation with the purest of their blood from May 6, 1916 until the recent past. Some were hanged on the gallows, some were killed in assassinations or abducted and disappeared without a trace, and others fell under bombardment, in wartime air raids, or in suicide drone attacks.’”
It added: “The methods of killing have varied, but martyrdom is one, no matter how varied the positions and affiliations of its victims. The Lebanese Press Editors’ Syndicate has had the largest share of martyrs, foremost among them its head, Nassib Metni. As it recalls the circumstances of his martyrdom, it does not overlook mentioning prominent figures whom crime made disappear, chief among them former Press Syndicate head Riyad Taha.”
The syndicate pointed out that World Press Freedom Day comes this year while “the bloodshed has not stopped,” stressing that Israeli attacks have claimed the lives of dozens of journalists and field photographers, despite the protection guaranteed by international laws and conventions.
It also asked in its statement: “What World Press Freedom Day is UNESCO calling for the celebration of, while journalists are being martyred at the hands of Israel and in many countries around the world witnessing conflicts and wars, without deterrence or restraint, and without effective action and measures, or even a voice from the UN, international, and Arab bodies that are supposed to carry the banner of human rights and the defense of journalists?”
The syndicate called for “thinking about mechanisms to guarantee the safety of journalists and to activate the principle of ending impunity,” demanding the establishment of “a special international court with an independent statute” to prosecute those involved in killing media workers or detaining them or forcibly disappearing them.
It concluded its statement by reaffirming the mission of journalism and its human role, saying: “As the Lebanese Press Editors’ Syndicate invokes showers of mercy upon the souls of the profession’s martyrs, whose pure blood bound the brow of the الوطن with the apron of nobility and commitment to freedom to the point of sacrificing one’s life for it, it extends to fellow female and male colleagues its sincerest feelings of respect for the role they are undertaking in these extremely delicate and difficult circumstances... They are the ones who write the draft of history in blood and ink.”
