[E-rundbrief] Info 1834 - UN Guterres protection of journalists, press freedom

[Matthias Reichl]

E-Rundbrief - Info 1834 - UN Guterres: ‘Informing is not a crime’ UN 
chief calls for better protection of journalists, press freedom

Bad Ischl, 26.2.2019

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

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https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/02/1033552

‘Informing is not a crime’ UN chief calls for better protection of 
journalists, press freedom

A video journalist covers a news event.

25 February 2019

Culture and Education

Paying tribute to reporters around the world who “put their lives on 
the line” to tell important stories, UN chief António Guterres 
lamented on Monday that freedom of the press was increasingly 
“shrinking” worldwide, and called on decision-makers to better protect 
journalists and media workers.

“We’ve come a long way towards realizing freedom of expression, and 
other fundamental freedoms. The right to access to information is 
entrenched in law in over a hundred countries,” said Secretary-General 
Guterres during the event, which marked the 70th anniversary of the 
Geneva Association of UN Correspondents (ACANU). “But despite these 
advances, in recent years, civic space has been shrinking worldwide at 
an alarming rate”, he explained.

In just over a decade, more than 1,000 journalists have been killed 
while carrying out their work. In nine out of 10 cases, no one was 
held accountable. Last year alone, the UN agency advocating for 
freedom of the press, UNESCO, reported that at least 99 journalists 
were killed and thousands more were attacked, harassed, detained or 
imprisoned on spurious charges, without due process. Women journalists 
are often at greater risk of being targeted, including through online 
threats of sexual violence.

The Secretary-General stressed that the vast majority of those 
detained and attacked are local journalists working in their own 
countries and communities, and that “most of the journalists and media 
workers killed, injured and detained were covering politics, crime, 
corruption and human rights,” not conflict.

Calling this state of affairs “outrageous,” the UN chief stated that 
“when journalists are targeted, societies as a whole pay a price” as 
“no democracy is complete without press freedom”.

“Journalism and the media are essential to peace, justice, sustainable 
development and human rights for all – and to the work of the United 
Nations,” he noted, paying tribute to reporters who “go to the most 
dangerous places on earth, to bring us important information, to give 
a voice to people who are being ignored and abused, and to hold the 
powerful to account”.

“In the two years since I became Secretary-General, the media has 
brought to light dramatic human suffering in conflict zones, major 
cases of corruption and nepotism, ethnic cleansing, premeditated 
sexual and gender-based violence and more, from every corner of the 
globe,” said Mr. Guterres. “In some cases, these reports were the 
basis for further investigations by independent observers and human 
rights reporters”.

The UN chief called on Governments and the international community to 
“protect journalists and media workers, and to create the conditions 
they need to do their essential work, and to investigate and prosecute 
the perpetrators of attacks on them”.

The United Nations General Assembly, the Security Council and the 
Human Rights Council have condemned attacks on journalists and 
expressed their support for media freedom through many different 
frameworks and processes, including the UN Plan of Action on the 
Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, a strategy to support 
the environment journalists need, to perform their vital work. In 
addition, the UN General Assembly has designated 2 November as the 
International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.

Deploring the increasing amount of misinformation in the digital age, 
Mr. Guterres went on to explain that the UN is stepping up its work in 
media and information literacy, to help people with the knowledge and 
skills they need to detect deliberate disinformation, counter 
hate-speech and defend media freedom. The organisation is also working 
on monitoring violence against journalists, “an important indicator 
for sustainable development”.

Finishing on what he termed “a positive note,” the UN chief said that 
the digital age is also full of opportunities.

“There are many clear signs that the public is starting to understand 
how important it is to look for information sources that are 
authoritative,” said Mr. Guterres. “The public will always need 
reliable information and analysis provided by free and diverse media,” 
he noted.

“Your work reminds us that truth never dies, and that our attachment 
to the fundamental right that is freedom of expressions must also 
never die… Informing is not a crime,” he concluded...

Regularly threatened, attacked and killed, journalists are also being 
imprisoned in record numbers around the world, an event on the 
sidelines of the UN General Assembly highlighted on Friday. These 
practices undermine not only the fundamental human rights of the 
reporters themselves, but also the public’s right to receive and 
impart information, rights experts warn.


-- 

     Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
     Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
     Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
     Wolfgangerstr. 26, 4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
     fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
     Impressum in: http://www.begegnungszentrum.at