A group of Geneva-based human rights experts have called on Malta to establish accountability for the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Agnes Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, and Harlem Désir, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media issued a joint statement on Wednesday to mark the second anniversary of the car bomb murder.
“The Government of Malta remains far behind in its obligation to ensure that investigations in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia are conducted in a prompt, effective, independent and impartial manner," they said.
"Two years have passed. No convictions, no trials of ringleaders and masterminds. On the contrary, posthumous libel suits continue to target the family of Daphne Caruana Galizia and makeshift memorials of her are frequently removed. This only adds to the sorrow and pain of her family and loved ones."
They observed that three men have been charged with the murder and it was almost 20 months after their arrest that they were finally ordered to stand trial.
Separately, EU Commissioner Vera Jourova wrote that it was "unacceptable" that the people who plotted to assassinate Ms Caruana Galizia had not been brought to justice.
In their joint statement, the human rights experts said the murder anniversary was a remainder of the costs borne by journalists, particularly those who seek to hold the powerful to account.
"Investigative journalism embodies the central values of access to information and robust reporting and debate to democratic society. Journalism, as Daphne Caruana Galizia and countless others around the world have practiced it, is a service in the public interest. Attacks on journalists not only deny their right to life. They deny the public’s right to know."
They urged the Government of Malta to uphold its obligations to respect and ensure freedom of expression and press freedom, and to investigate the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, in accordance with the standards of international human rights law, such as those of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and of the European Convention on Human Rights.
"We call on the authorities to do their utmost and to speed up the process of establishing accountability and shed the full light on this horrendous crime. This must become Malta’s top political priority.
"The echo of the explosion that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia is still ringing in our memory with the ultimate question: When will justice be served, and bring a little comfort to her loved ones? The Government of Malta owes an answer to Daphne, her family, Maltese society and all journalists around the world,” they wrote.
Their statement comes one day after a Reporters Without Borders report urged the Maltese government to establish an inquiry to look into what it described as a deteriorating press climate.