|
Links
Press Freedom Sites
WAN 3 May Partners
Other 3 May Events
May 3 Background
International Texts on Freedom of Expression
Quotations
Links
Press Freedom Sites
o Free the Press in China Campaign
o Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE)
o Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
o Inter American Press Association (IAPA)
o International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX)
o International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
o International Pen
o International Press Institute (IPI)
o International News Safety Institute (INSI)
o The House of Journalists
o Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
o Transparency International
o World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC)
o Agence France-Presse (AFP)
o Michel Cambon
o jiCé
Other 3 May Events
o http://www.unesco.org/webworld/wpfd/2008
Back to the top
May 3 Background
In dozens of countries around the world, journalists, editors and publishers are murdered, assaulted, detained and harassed simply for telling the truth. Their publications are censored, fined, suspended and closed down for daring to voice opinions contrary to those of their governments.
World Press Freedom Day exists to recognise the sacrifices made in the struggle for freedom of the press and to put pressure on governments that continue to deny their citizens this basic human right. The 3 May message is that journalists everywhere must be granted the right to report freely and without fear.
The date marks the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of principles drawn up by African journalists in 1991, calling for a free, independent and pluralistic media on that continent and throughout the world. The Declaration afirms that a free press is essential to the existence of democracy and a fundamental human goal. The Declaration is a milestone in the struggle for a free press in all regions of the world.
At a time when human rights and democratic development hang in the balance in so many countries, no one can be complacent. 3 May is the day on which the media can remind governments and the public of the importance of freedom of the press and of how the gobal battle to attain it, continues.
Back to the top
International Texts on Freedom of Expression
«
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right
includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek,
receive and impart information and ideas through any media and
regardless of frontiers ».
Article 19, Universal Declaration of Human Rights
«
Everyone has the right to freedom of expression; this right shall
include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information
and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of
frontiers ».
Article 10, European Convention For the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
«
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought and expression. This right
includes freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of
all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing, in
print, in the form of art, or through any other medium of one's choice
».
Article 13, American Convention on Human Rights
«
No people or society can be free without freedom of expression and of
the press. The exercise of this freedom is not something authorities
grant, it is an inalienable right of the people ».
Principle 1, Declaration of Chapultapec, Adopted by the Hemisphere Conference on Free Speech, Mexico City, 11 March 1994
«
Every individual shall have the right to receive information. Every
individual shall have the right to express and disseminate his opinions
within the law ».
Article 9, African Charter on Human & People's Rights
Back to the top
Quotations
« The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism ».
Wole Soyinka, Playwright, Nigeria, 1987.
« A free press can be good or bad, but most certainly without freedom it will never be anything but bad ».
Albert Camus, Author, France, 1960
« Give me the liberty to know, to utter and to argue freely above all other liberties ».
John Milton, Philosopher, UK, 1644
« Journalists must seek and speak the truth, for we are the voice of the voiceless millions ».
Razia Bhatti, Journalist, Pakistan, 1994.
« In order to enjoy the inestimable benefits that the liberty of the press ensures, it is necessary to submit to the inevitable evils it creates ».
Alexis de Tocqueville, Historian, France, 1835
Back to the top
|
