Proof of registration, via a QR code on your phone or on paper, will be required to enter Reid Hall. Entry will be refused to those who are not registered. Please note that access will not be permitted 15 minutes after the start of the event.
This event will be held in English.
Co-organized by the Columbia Global Paris Center, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and Agence France-Presse (AFP).
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This event will be livestreamed. Register here to access the Zoom.
On October 13, 2023, an Israeli double-tap strike killed Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah, gravely injured Agence France-Presse (AFP) photojournalist Christina Assi, alongside five other journalists. Three years later, no one has been held accountable.
The Oct. 13 attack was the first time the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) documented Israeli forces deliberately targeting journalists after Oct. 7, 2023. The case is emblematic of Israel’s persistent impunity surrounding attacks on journalists and the obstacles to securing accountability through national, regional, and international mechanisms.
Independent investigations by AFP, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reuters, and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon all concluded that Israel conducted an apparently deliberate attack on a group of clearly identifiable members of the media, which according to international law, is a war crime.
The event will start with Assi’s testimony and footage of the attack, after which she will be joined by Leopoldo Maldonado Gutiérrez, U.N. special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression (participating virtually), and Tom Gibson, CPJ’s EU deputy advocacy director, for a panel discussion moderated by Phil Chetwynd, AFP’s Global News Director.
The discussion will examine the October 13 attack as a case study in the broader failure to investigate and prosecute crimes against journalists, connecting the individual experience of an attack on journalists to wider regional and international dynamics. It will explore the search for answers, the challenges of establishing responsibility, and the legal and political barriers that have hindered progress towards accountability.
The panel will also consider what avenues remain available to pursue justice. Particular attention will be given to the European Union’s responsibility to ensure that its engagement with Israel is consistent with international law, and to the political, diplomatic, and economic tools at its disposal.
Speakers
Christina Assi is a photojournalist and photo editor for Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Cyprus. On October 13, 2023, Assi and six other journalists were targeted by Israel in a double-tap strike while reporting in Alma Al-Shaab on the Israeli-Lebanese border. Reuters correspondent Issam Abdallah, Assi’s best friend, was killed in the first strike, from which she sustained serious injuries resulting in the amputation of her right leg. Since the attack, Assi has campaigned for justice for Abdallah’s murder, advocated for journalist safety, and supported a rehabilitation program for people with similar life-altering injuries. Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, she carried the torch in Vincennes, France, representing the journalists who died in the line of duty alongside another survivor of the attack, American journalist Dylan Collins.
Tom Gibson is the Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) lead advocate in Brussels, covering the EU. Before joining CPJ, Gibson managed Protection International's Burundi and Congo desks, advocating for stronger state accountability for the protection of human rights defenders and journalists. Gibson was also part of Amnesty International's Africa program in London and Nairobi.
Leopoldo Maldonado Gutiérrez was recently appointed as UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression in July 2026 by the Human Rights Council at its 62nd session. A Mexican lawyer specializing in freedom of expression, media freedom, digital rights, and access to information, he has nearly 20 years of professional experience working on the protection of journalists, human rights defenders, and civic space. Throughout his career, he has combined legal practice, strategic advocacy, public policy, research, and engagement with international human rights mechanisms.
Phil Chetwynd is the Global News Director of Agence France-Presse (AFP). He leads a newsroom of 1700 journalists based in over 150 countries. Phil has been responsible for AFP's editorial strategy prioritizing on-the-ground human storytelling in multimedia formats, the development of a world-class video service and an award-winning pivot on climate coverage. He has also made AFP a leading voice in the battle against misinformation. During a long career at AFP, Phil occupied the posts of Global Editor-in-Chief and Chief Asia Editor. He was also a foreign correspondent working in Asia and the Middle East. He began his career in British regional newspapers.
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This event will take place in Reid Hall’s Grande Salle Ginsberg-LeClerc, built in 1912 and extensively renovated in 2023 thanks to the generous support of Judith Ginsberg and Paul LeClerc.
Reid Hall, the Columbia Global Paris Center, and the Institute for Ideas and Imagination are not responsible for the views and opinions expressed by their speakers and guests.
