International Anti-Corruption Day: Defending Journalists in the Fight Against Corruption

December 9th marks the occasion of the annual International Anti-Corruption Day which has been observed each year since the United Nations Convention Against Corruption was passed on October 31st 2003. The Journalist Support Committee would like to take this opportunity to defend the integral role of investigative journalists worldwide in shining a light on corruption and holding the perpetrators to account. 

The UN Convention Against Corruption has been ratified by the vast majority of the states which form the international community, nevertheless so long as the investigative journalists who are inclined to expose acts of corruption are subjected to persecution then sadly corruption will prevail. 

Where the repressive governments allow no independent voices there is no civil society and subsequently no accountability which means that the cycle of corruption will continue to get worse. 

The Journalist Support Committee urges the international community to speak up for the rights of those whose investigative work is confronting corruption head-on. The freedom to speak truth to power is our right as citizens of the international community – this is enshrined in the inalienable right to freedom of expression. On International Anti-Corruption Day the Journalist Support Committee calls for international solidarity with all those who report on corruption and we urge the governments of the world to honour the principles of the UN Convention Against Corruption and enable journalists to investigate corruption freely without fear of reprisal. 

Journalist Support Committee - Switzerland
8 December 2018