“In the run-up to elections, WAN-IFRA calls on legislators to work closely with all relevant actors to ensure positive constitutional guarantees that protect the role of the press and recognise its essential contribution to the process of democratic transition,” said a resolution from the Board of WAN-IFRA, meeting in Vienna, Austria, on the eve of the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum, the global summit meetings of the world's press.
“WAN-IFRA also calls for media development to be placed high on the agenda of development agencies and governments and for a concerted international effort to rebuild the independent press in Egypt and elsewhere in the region, in the wake of democratic revolution,” said the resolution.
WAN-IFRA issued three other resolutions to:
• Call on authorities to reverse recent trends that seriously undermine a free and independent press in Ecuador, by repealing criminal defamation, putting a stop to all forms of harassment against journalists and guaranteeing the full independence of the media in the country.
• Call on the Eritrean authorities to immediately release Eritrean/Swedish journalist, author and playwright Dawit Isaak along with the other 16 journalists imprisoned without trial in the country.
• Call on Mexican authorities to ensure the safety of media professionals so they can carry out their work without fear of violence or retribution, and to take vigorous measures to end the impunity that protects those who murder and intimidate them.
The Mexican government’s current offensive against organised crime and the deep-rooted culture of impunity that prevails in the country are jeopardising the very existence of journalism, the Mexican resolution said. Left unprotected by the state, media professionals are often faced with the impossible choice of exile or self-censorship. In certain parts of the country news blackouts are part of everyday life.
Since the start of President Calderón’s mandate on 1 December 2006, at least 30 journalists have been killed simply for doing their work. At least four journalists have been killed so far this year and many have been kidnapped or threatened.
Click here to read the WAN-IFRA Board Resolutions in full.
Click here for more information on WAN-IFRA’s press freedom.
