Audrey Azoulay, the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) called Tuesday for an inquiry into the killing of Ethiopian journalist Dawit Kebede.

Individuals found Kebede and his friend, Bereket Berhe, shot dead in a car on January 19 in Mekelle, the capital of the Ethiopian region of Tigray. Kebede was a journalist for a Tigray regional state television outlet. Police allegedly detained Kebede on January 16 and questioned Kebede about his outlet’s coverage of the November conflict between federal troops and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.

“I condemn the killing of Dawit Kebede. I call on the authorities to investigate this crime and bring its perpetrators to justice,” Azoulay said. “Impunity must not be allowed to embolden those who use violence to stop journalists from doing their job.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent non-profit organization, echoed Azoulay’s statement. It too called upon Ethiopian authorities to conduct an investigation to “determine if it [the killing] was motivated by his work, and hold those responsible to account.”