A/HRC/39/23 family life of journalist Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivashchenko when they seized and copied files and photos from his laptop without sufficient justification.120 52. The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights heard, in 2016, a case concerning the violations of rights of journalists. In Konaté v. Burkina Faso, the Court dealt with an accusation of criminal defamation and ruled that a prison sentence was an inappropriate punishment.121 53. In 2015, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights heard UwimanaNkusi and Mukakibibi v. Rwanda.122 This case challenged the conviction of two female Rwandan journalists to respective prison sentences of four and three years on charges of criminal defamation and threatening national security. A decision remains pending. 54. The East African Court of Justice confirmed in the 2015 case Burundian Journalists Union v. Burundi123 that it had jurisdiction to hear press freedom cases. It ordered Burundi to amend its Press Law as it violated the State’s international obligations to uphold human rights, particularly the right to freedom of expression. 55. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has heard cases concerning the safety of journalists, including two historical cases.124 56. Civil society organizations help to bring cases before complaint mechanisms. The Media Legal Defence Initiative provides legal defence to journalists, bloggers and independent media and delivered, in August 2016, its second East African Litigation Surgery in Kampala, which aimed to enhance the knowledge and skills of lawyers from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda and represent journalists, bloggers and media outlets in national and international courts.125 VI. Effectiveness of prevention, protection, monitoring and complaint mechanisms 57. There have been undeniable advancements over recent years to strengthen the safety of journalists and address prevailing impunity for violations of their rights. There now exist numerous prevention, protection, monitoring and complaint mechanisms at the international and regional levels, often with multiple purposes and functions, which are utilized by States, the United Nations system, international and regional organizations, and media and civil society actors in order to enhance the safety of journalists. 58. Since the safety of journalists became an issue of focus at the intergovernmental level, resolutions and other initiatives of the Security Council, General Assembly and Human Rights Council, as well as the United Nations human rights mechanisms, have reaffirmed and elaborated upon the application of pertinent international human rights and international humanitarian norms and standards. The issue has also been rapidly incorporated into the policies and operations of the United Nations, and other international organizations, including through monitoring and reporting, awareness-raising, capacitybuilding and training. This will be further advanced through the re-establishment of the United Nations network of focal points on the safety of journalists. Similar developments 120 121 122 123 124 125 See also Özgür Gündem v. Turkey, application No. 23144/93, judgment of 16 March 2000, in which the Court found that, in part through the State’s failure to take adequate protective and investigative measures in relation to the pattern of attacks on persons connected to the newspaper Özgür Gündem, there had been a violation of freedom of expression. See http://en.african-court.org/images/Cases/Judgment/Konate%20Judgment%20Engl.pdf. Referred to in A/72/290, para. 53. See http://eacj.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Reference-No.7-of-2013-Final-15th-May-2c-2015Very-Final1.pdf. See https://knightcenter.utexas.edu/blog/00-17064-inter-american-court-human-rights-opens-caseagainst-brazil-death-journalist-vladimir and www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/asuntos/carvajal_06_07_17.pdf (in Spanish). See www.mediadefence.org/sites/default/files/EALS%202016%20%20Evaluation%20report_final.pdf. 15