A/HRC/20/17 106. In countries where defamation is classified as a civil tort, the financial sanctions imposed must be strictly proportionate to the harm caused and limited by law. 107. Journalists should not be held accountable for receiving, storing and disseminating classified data which they have obtained in a way that is not illegal, including leaks and information received from unidentified sources. 108. Governments should only classify those data which are proven to cause direct harm to national security and other vital interests of the State. Classified data should be subject to regular review and be declassified if confidentiality is no longer necessary. Clear classification criteria and a register of classified information should be established by law and published. 109. Journalists working both offline and online should be free to use diverse sources of information, including from those who do not wish to be identified. Journalists should never be forced to reveal their sources except for certain exceptional cases where the interests of investigating a serious crime or protecting the life of other individuals prevail over the possible risk to the source. Such pressing needs must be clearly demonstrated and ordered by an independent court. 110. The Special Rapporteur recognizes efforts in countries, such as Colombia and Mexico, to create bodies to offer, inter alia, greater protection to journalists. The Special Rapporteur underlines the importance of the willingness and ability of such bodies to take on a broad range and high number of cases and issues under its competency; to work with autonomy; to have their own and sufficient resources and to have the capacity to coordinate between different authorities. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur recommends that journalists and civil society organizations participate in the design, integration, functioning and evaluation of these bodies; that they have investigatory powers; that they have the competency to make recommendations to the Governments of their respective countries; that riskassessment is prompt and efficient; that measures are implemented promptly; and that a contextual approach is adopted. Protection measures must be holistic, including a range of physical, legal, and political measures. 2. Civil society 111. The Special Rapporteur recommends that civil society organizations work to raise awareness of the risks faced by journalists, the international standards which exist to protect them, and how these might be implemented through campaigns and training initiatives; that civil society organizations, including journalists, make efforts to ensure that global standards of professional conduct are met in order to enhance the credibility and protection of journalists; and that they coordinate with one another and with the United Nations in order to ensure that their work is complementary. 112. Civil society associations, including journalists, should engage actively with Government initiatives to establish protection mechanisms. 3. United Nations 113. The Special Rapporteur welcomes United Nations initiatives, such as the innovative International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). He supports the idea of considering the implementation of similar initiatives in other countries where impunity for human rights violations is prevalent. 18