COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION COMMEMORATES WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY, AS IT OPENS 1996 SESSION

Press Release
PI/940

COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION COMMEMORATES WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY, AS IT OPENS 1996 SESSION

The Committee on Information this morning commemorated World Press Freedom Day, which is observed each year on 5 May, as it began the work of its 1996 session. During two weeks of meetings, the Committee will examine United Nations public information policies and activities and focus on the strengthening of peace and international understanding through the free and balanced dissemination of information. In commemorating World Press Freedom Day, speakers paid tribute to the many journalists who risked their lives in their effort to promote the free flow of information. In 1995, 51 journalists lost their lives in the line of duty, while 182 were imprisoned for doing their jobs, the Committee was told. In their honour, the Committee rose to observe a moment of silence.

Today, the United Nations was proclaiming the importance of the free exchange of information and ideas regardless of frontiers, Samir Sanbar, Assistant Secretary-General for Public Information, told the Committee. "It is the touchstone of all freedoms to which every human being aspires", he said. "In honouring this right, we pay tribute to the many men and women around the world who, by professional choice, assert press freedom on behalf of all members of society."

Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, in a statement read out by Mr. Sanbar, said people were voicing an increasing desire for greater participation in their societies and in the achievement of sustainable economic and social development. Their truest protector and ally was a free press, which would protect their right to inform and be informed. Those who risked danger to report the news were on the frontline in defending all the freedoms to which the United Nations was dedicated. Diogo Freitas do Amaral (Portugal), President of the General Assembly, stressed the important role of the media in promoting democracy and in contributing to stability and development. It should also play a role in education and in preserving and fostering cultural values, he said. The Department of Public Information (DPI) should continue to provide the global media with adequate information on the principles of the United Nations.

Committee on Information - 1a - Press Release PI/940 1st Meeting (AM) 6 May 1996

Ivan Maximov (Bulgaria), Committee Chairman, stressed the importance of resolutely condemning all forms of harassment or attack against journalists. As documented by press-monitoring organizations, murder had been the main cause of death among working journalists over the past decade, and many had lost their lives precisely for reporting on human rights abuses. The international community must increase its vigilance and decry any attempts against the free exercise of journalism worldwide.

Also this morning, the Committee, acting by acclamation, elected the following officers to its Bureau: Holger Martinsen (Argentina), Salman Abbasy (Pakistan), as Vice-Chairmen; and Nacerdine Sai (Algeria), Rapporteur. The new members will serve out the remainder of the 1995-1996 terms of: Alejandro Nieto (Argentina) and Minhaj Barna (Pakistan), Vice-Chairmen; and Fateh Zeghib (Algeria), Rapporteur. The Committee also adopted its provisional agenda and work programme.

The Committee on Information will meet again at 3 p.m. today to hear opening statements for the current session.

Committee Work Programme

The Committee on Information met this morning to begin its 1996 session. It was expected to continue its examination of United Nations public information policies and activities and follow-up on progress made by the United Nations system in the field of information and communications. It was also to continue its consideration of the establishment of a new, more just and effective world information and communication order, aimed at strengthening peace and international understanding and based on the free and balanced dissemination of information.

At its first meeting, the Committee was also to commemorate World Press Freedom Day, which is observed on Sunday, 5 May. Statements were to be made by the President of the General Assembly, the Assistant Secretary-General for Public Information and the Chairman of the Information Committee. The Committee was also to elect two Vice-Chairmen and a Rapporteur. (For additional background on the session, see Press Release PI/939 of 3 May.)

World Press Freedom Day

DIOGO FREITAS DO AMARAL (Portugal), President of the General Assembly, said that since the declaration of World Press Freedom Day, several measures had been taken to promote the full exercise of the practice of journalism. Nevertheless, 51 journalists had been killed during 1995, six of them in the line of duty. The remaining 45 were murdered because they made public their ideas and opinions and published news that did not please some people. This year so far, 20 journalists had been killed. Last year, a record of 182 were arrested in 22 countries.

World Press Freedom Day marked the right of journalists to practice their profession, he said. It was also a tribute to those who were victims of the most violent form of censorship, often at the hands of those responsible for the abuse of power being exposed. In many cases, powerful economic interests were also responsible for the silencing of journalists.

Censorship had a long history, but nowadays it might be more difficult, due to achievements in technology, he said. The media played a very important role in promoting democratic principles within society, contributing to stability and development. It should also play a role in education, and in the preservation and fostering of cultural values. Training in journalism must aim at making the journalist a person with a strong cultural background, a strong ethic, and intellectual and moral rigour.

The United Nations had an important role to play, he said. Particularly through the Department of Public Information (DPI), it must be encouraged to continue providing the global media with adequate information on the principles of the United Nations, promoting peace and democracy.

Committee on Information - 3 - Press Release PI/940 1st Meeting (AM) 6 May 1996

The Committee then rose to observe a moment of silence in remembrance of those journalists who died in the exercise of their profession and in serving the truth.

SAMIR SANBAR, Assistant Secretary-General for Public Information, read out the Secretary-General's speech to mark World Press Freedom Day. In it, he stated that more people in more countries were voicing their desire for greater participation in their societies, as well as for a role in achieving sustainable economic and social development and a better life for all. Their truest protector and ally was a free press, a vigilant, responsible and compassionate defender of the right of people to inform and be informed. Those who risked danger to report the news were on the frontline in defending all the freedoms to which the United Nations was dedicated, the Secretary- General added.

Freedom of the press must be precious to those who lived where that right was not yet a reality or had been only recently achieved and never taken for granted by those familiar with it, for they were the strongest support for those who were deprived of the right to speak and to listen, to debate and to learn, the Secretary-General continued. "Having been a journalist myself, I know how vital it is that we recommit ourselves to the goal of guaranteeing this freedom, to fostering an independent and pluralist media as a prerequisite to freedom of the press, and to strengthening the information potential of the less open and less privileged parts of the world."

Speaking in his own capacity, Mr. Sanbar then said the Day was an occasion to reaffirm, in the strongest terms, the right of journalists to practise their profession without interference. "Today, we proclaim the faith of the United Nations in the prevalence of the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. It is the touchstone of all freedoms to which every human being aspires -- and in honouring this right, we pay tribute to the many men and women around the world who, by professional choice, assert press freedom on behalf of all members of society", he said.

Journalists' commitment to society compelled them to search for truth and to defend people's right to know, in accordance with the highest standards of responsibility and objectivity, he continued. Journalists faced an arduous task whose daily performance often confronted them with daunting obstacles, and sometimes risks to their freedom and to their very lives. Their ability and courage to overcome impediments and to shed light on matters that affected the welfare of society were cherished, every day, by millions of people in all corners of the globe, as they listened to a radio news broadcast, opened the pages of their local newspaper, or witnessed a distant event on television.

The Day was a tribute to those who had been silenced for daring to speak out in the public interest, he continued. The international community

Committee on Information - 4 - Press Release PI/940 1st Meeting (AM) 6 May 1996

could never forget that when those brave journalists had fallen victim to attacks, their minds and hearts were set on disclosing indisputable evidence about abuses of power, assaults on human rights, economic inequities, corruption, social injustice and discrimination. Citing the vital nature of journalist's work, he said the media had both contributed to and benefited from the growth and expansion of democratic values in their communities.

The landmark declaration of the Day was the latest expression of United Nations efforts to further the fruitful interaction between the strengthening of democratic institutions and the functioning of a free press, Mr. Sanbar said. Since 1991, the DPI had organized, in conjunction with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a series of regional seminars on the promotion of an independent and pluralistic press. While fostering the discussion of problems that affected the quality and substance of professional journalism, the workshops had raised awareness about the need for concerted regional action and international cooperation to ensure that an independent and pluralistic press was free to function as a true agent of democracy. The final reports and Declarations of the Windhoek, Alma Ata, Santiago and Sana'a seminars were a blueprint for meeting that challenge.

He recalled that the most essential elements which allowed an independent and pluralistic press to perform freely in all societies were: the removal of all forms of governmental, political and economic controls and restrictions on the press; the monitoring of attacks against journalists, while demanding investigation and prosecution of abuses; the promotion of media diversity and the prevention of monopolies of any kind; and the encouragement of tolerance and respect for cultural differences by allowing the views and concerns of all members of society to be reflected in the media.

Today, the DPI honoured journalists in recognition of their efforts to place critical global issues at the top of the public agenda. He said it was important to remember United Nations colleagues who risked their lives to perform their tasks and recalled that Ouassini Lahrache, a staff member with the United Nations Information Centre in Algeria, had been killed while on his way to his office. The work of journalists had helped peoples of the world realize that the principles of the United Nations and its aims towards peace, development and democracy remained the only foundation on which to build the international community of the future.

IVAN MAXIMOV (Bulgaria), Chairman, reaffirmed the Committee's commitment to freedom of the press and information, and to the independence, pluralism and diversity of the media. The Committee pledged its support to the well- being of all media workers around the world and acknowledged that their efforts had helped promote awareness, aspiration and solidarity against injustice. It also acknowledged their efforts to raise global awareness of the objectives and activities of the United Nations.

Committee on Information - 5 - Press Release PI/940 1st Meeting (AM) 6 May 1996

The international community had an obligation to foster journalists' capacity to express their ideas and opinions, he said. The DPI had played a positive role in contributing to the process of global democratization, particularly in the newly emerging States and those in transition. DPI's annual training programme for broadcasters and journalists from developing countries and countries in transition, and its regional seminars on promoting independent and pluralistic media, deserved special mention.

Members of the United Nations must take every opportunity to prevent and resolutely condemn all forms of harassment or attack against journalists, he said. As documented by press-monitoring organizations, murder had been the main cause of death among working journalists over the past decade. Many had lost their lives precisely for reporting on human rights abuses. In most such cases, neither the attacks on journalists nor the abuses reported by them were investigated or prosecuted. In 1995, 51 journalists lost their lives in the line of duty, while 182 were imprisoned for doing their jobs. Some of those were still in prison.

The international community must increase its vigilance and decry any attempts against the free exercise of journalism worldwide. During the current session, the Committee should reflect on how best it might strengthen the practice of independent and pluralistic journalism throughout the world.

* *** *