Brown gavel with a brass band on a blue background. | File photo

Three leading press freedom groups have launched what they called People’s Tribunal in an effort to achieve justice for slain journalists by holding governments accountable.

This comes after a report on global impunity index released by Committee to Protect Journalists indicates that 81% of journalist murders were not accounted for across the world in the last 10 years.

South Sudan appeared in the list of ten worst countries when it comes to holding killers of Journalists accountable.

The country has 5 unsolved cases of murder against journalists since September 2011.

The three media campaign groups, the Free Press Unlimited, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters without borders unveiled the process on Tuesday as the world commemorates the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.

The Tribunal will take six months with the opening hearing to call on thirteen witnesses to deliver testimonies on the patterns of violence, the causes of impunity and the responsibilities of states.

“People’s Tribunals are designed to hold states accountable for violations of international law by building public awareness and generating a legitimate evidence record, and play an important role in empowering victims and recording their stories,” says RSF.

”By documenting these cases in detail, the ways in which these States fail to honor their obligations under international human rights law will be illustrated, as well as the impact of impunity on victims, journalistic communities, and societies,” says the report.

The tribunal will end on May 3rd 2022.

According to the International Federation of Journalists, South Sudan Journalists are frequently harassed, intimidated, beaten or abducted and sometimes killed.