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For Sander Thoenes, Indonesia was a dream job. After working in Moscow in the early 1990s, the young Dutch reporter joined the newspaper, eager to be sent to the Southeast Asian country that had long fascinated him. He lobbied the foreign editor and learned Indonesian on his own initiative. Two years after arriving in Jakarta, and 25 years ago this weekend, Thoenes was shot dead by Indonesian soldiers in a suburb of Dili, the capital of East Timor. He was only 30 years old.
Two Indonesian officers were charged with the murder by the East Timorese government after a UN investigation in 2002. But no one has ever been brought to justice for that crime, or for the 13 civilians killed the same day during the withdrawal of Indonesian troops that Thoenes covered after East Timor voted overwhelmingly for independence from Jakarta in a UN-sponsored referendum. It seems increasingly unlikely that they will be.
Prabowo Subianto, who will become Indonesia’s president next month, is a former general accused of human rights abuses, including involvement in massacres in East Timor in the 1980s as a young officer, which he has consistently denied. Indonesia has made great progress in the past quarter-century, but it is better to move forward by acknowledging the evils of the past, not forgetting them.
For reporters in conflict zones, the dangers are more acute than ever. In the war between Israel and Hamas, journalists and media workers have faced greater risks and threats than ever before. Terrible lossesThe Committee to Protect Journalists says 116 people have been killed in the conflict since October 7, including 111 Palestinians, two Israelis and three Lebanese – the deadliest period for journalists since the group began collecting data in 1992. Another 16 have died in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
But it is not only conflict that is deadly. Many journalists killed in the course of their work are investigating crime, corruption or abuse of power. Some are “citizen” journalists who use the Internet and enjoy even weaker protection than those of mainstream media.
Violence is not the only weapon. As of December 2023, 320 journalists were in prison, CPJ Figuresa record, with China, Burma and Belarus holding more than a third of those prisoners, and Russia not far behind. International pressure can sometimes pay off: Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal was one of three foreign or dual-national journalists released by Moscow in a prisoner swap last month, though many others, holding only Russian passports, remain behind bars.
Just as shocking as the violence against journalists is the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of such violence, as in the Thoenes case. CPJ found last year that no one was held accountable in nearly all cases. four out of five There have been 261 murders of journalists since 2013. Even when the perpetrators are charged, those who ordered them are rarely charged. That is why killing journalists is one of the “safest” crimes. In 2013, the UN designated November 2 as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, but progress has been slow.
Violence against journalists is not limited to autocracies. Some of the most dangerous places for journalists in the past decade, like Mexico The Philippines and the United States are democracies. Populist politicians and even major parties in some leading democracies are increasingly inclined to denigrate journalists.
Some of these countries are among the 51 that have joined the Coalition for Media Freedomurging them to promote a free press. In addition to practicing what they preach at home, they should do more to urge other countries to end impunity, including Indonesia in the Sander Thoenes case. On the anniversary of his death, we salute all those journalists determined to tell the truth despite the risks – of which he was such a fine example.
