circumstances. The duty to conduct investigations imposed on a State involves the duty to be impartial/ fair and just. One cannot be a judge in his own c a use so ' too can one not investigate a crime when it is itself the accused. We a r e satisfied that any investigations that did not take into account a critical examination of weapons found on any of the suspects for a possible conclusion as the murder weapon was no investigation; it was a fluke. One need not even talk about the conduct of the officers who went to the hospital which in our view genuinely scarred the eye witnesses off. The NIA was not an impartial body to conduct these investigations in view of the concerns raised by the victims of the shooting. This claim is sufficiently established on the facts so we uphold it. The next claim based on what the plaintiffs called the climate of impunity in the defendant territory. This will be dealt with together with the third issue which is the alleged attack on freedom of expression in the country. This is also a question of fact and the burden of producing evidence rested with the plaintiffs. On the threat to freedom of expression in the country the .Plaintiffs cited specific instances in the country among them were cases involving Chief Ebrimah Manneh v. Republic of The Gambia (2004-2009) CCJELR 181 and Musah Saidykhan v. Republic of The Gambia, decided on 16 December 2010. Both plaintiffs sued the Defendant before this court with success. Those cases involved journalists who suffered at the hands of State operatives in the course of performing their legitimate functions. Impunity is defined in Black's Law Dictionary, 9th edition, page 826 to mean 'exemption from punishment, immunity from the detrimental effects of one's actions...' The plaintiffs cited specific instances where state operatives have been involved . in misdeeds against journalists but no action was taken against them. At least this court's previous decisions in two such cases support what the plaintiffs had claimed. The Defendant was thus bound to lead evidence in rebuttal, but this was - not forthcoming. Article 66 of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty imposes an obligation on Member States to assure a safe and conducive atmosphere in the practice of journalism. And in the situation where 9 attacks by state operatives against