STATEMENT OF ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ON WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY
Press Release
GA/9072
PI/941
STATEMENT OF ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ON WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY
19960506 Following is the text of the statement made this morning by the President of the General Assembly, Diogo Freitas do Amaral, in the Committee on Information, on World Press Freedom Day:I would like, first of all, to thank you for the invitation to address this Committee, in the commemoration of World Press Freedom Day.
Not many years have passed since the Declaration of Windhoek made the suggestion, later adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, that the third of May would honour the right of journalists to fully exercise the noble profession they have chosen, within the principle of the free flow of information.
Journalists from Asia, Latin America and the Arab world added their voices to the Windhoek Declaration, stressing their firm commitment to defend the freedom of speech, impossible to achieve without pluralism in the media. To that end, several measures were taken, not only within the framework of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), but also in several countries, to ensure the full practice of journalism.
Nevertheless, 51 journalists were killed in 1995, six of them in the line of duty. The other 45 were murdered because they made public their ideas and opinions and because they published news that did not please some people. Since the beginning of 1996, 20 journalists have already been killed. Also last year, a record number of 182 were arrested in 22 countries.
World Press Freedom Day doesn't mark only the right of journalists to the practice of their profession. It is also a tribute by the international community to those who were victims of the most violent form of censorship, in many cases, by the hands of those responsible for the abuse of power they were exposing.
This situation doesn't involve only factors of a political nature. In many cases, powerful economic interests that corrupt, threaten and damage society are also a cause for the silencing of journalists in their daily struggle to give to the public the truth they are entitled to.
- 2 - Press Release GA/9072 PI/941 6 May 1996
Censorship goes back a very long way in history, and if in the past, the attempts to silence the press were probably easier, nowadays they might be more difficult due to the progress and achievements in technology which make communications easier and with a speed that may overcome the ones who try to stop them.
This situation gives added responsibility to journalists. The fact that they have more and quicker means available should make them think about the objectivity of their profession. The media play a very important role in promoting democratic principles within society, contributing to stability and development, and one should not look only into the information that echoes the activity of ruling institutions. Media can and should be a broader factor of education, preservation and fostering of cultural values.
Thus, the importance of training. Training, in universities, through seminars, and in other institutions, must be oriented in order to make the journalist a person with a strong cultural background, and maturity to move within the media sphere, with strong ethics, and intellectual and moral rigour.
Here, the United Nations also has an important role to play. The United Nations, in particular, through the Department of Public Information, must be encouraged to continue its efforts in order to provide the press all over the world with adequate information on the principles of the United Nations, promoting peace and democracy, so that we, the peoples of the United Nations, can share more and more in a peaceful future together.
The media, being allowed to speak freely, with independence and objectivity, about the differences in societies, may pave the way for a better knowledge of those differences, leading to greater understanding and tolerance. Without understanding and tolerance, the effective work of the media is impossible. As we saw, 51 journalists were killed last year and 20 more since the beginning of 1996.
So, before I finish, I would like to ask the members and observers of this Committee on Information to stand and observe a minute of silence in remembrance of those journalists who died in the exercise of their noble profession and in serving the truth.
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