Today marks the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. According to statistics from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 166 journalists were killed worldwide between 2025 and 2026. Of every seven cases, six remained unresolved, allowing the perpetrators to escape punishment.

In the Kurdistan Region, due to the judiciary's dependence on the ruling political parties, authorities have failed to conduct independent and serious investigations into the assassinations of journalists. Some of the most prominent cases, including those of Sorani Mama Hama, Sardasht Osman, Kawa Garmiyani, Wadat Hussein, and Abdulstar Tahir Sharif, were closed without identifying the perpetrators or those who planned the crimes and bringing them to justice.

On this occasion, Metro Center calls for these cases to be reopened and reinvestigated so that justice can be served and the rights of the victims and their families upheld.

UNESCO warns that impunity leads to further killings and often signals the escalation of conflicts and the breakdown of legal and judicial systems.

UNESCO also warns that impunity can harm entire societies by concealing serious human rights violations, corruption, and crimes. For this reason, it calls on governments, civil society organizations, media outlets, and all those committed to advancing the rule of law to join global efforts to end the culture of impunity.

In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly designated 2 November as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. The resolution calls on member states to take concrete measures to combat the prevailing culture of impunity.