By Liliana Gaddi
The History Behind This Day
May 3rd is World Press Freedom Day. This day is meant to serve as a reminder and an opportunity to reflect on one of the fundamental human rights included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Hereinafter: UDHR) from 1948. Press freedom is one particular form of freedom of expression. As a consequence, it is safeguarded by Article 19 of the UDHR:
“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.” [2]
It took a few more years before a document was redacted that expanded on the right to freedom of expression as reported in the article above into a more exhaustive and detailed document. This happened with the Declaration of Windhoek, which was the result of a UNESCO seminar on ‘Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press’ in Windhoek, Namibia, that took place from the 29th of April to the 3rd of May 1991 [3]. The seminar subsequently also determined the choice of the 3rd of May as the official date for World Press Freedom Day.
The first three points of the declaration are extremely valuable. They go as follows:
Consistent with Article 19 of the UDHR, the establishment, maintenance and fostering of an independent, pluralistic and free press is essential to the development and maintenance of democracy in a nation, and for economic development.
By an independent press, we mean a press independent from governmental, political or economic control or from control of materials and infrastructure essential for the production and dissemination of newspapers, magazines and periodicals.
By a pluralistic press, we mean the end of monopolies of any kind and the existence of the greatest possible number of newspapers, magazines and periodicals reflecting the widest possible range of opinion within the community.
So, freedom of expression and press freedom as a direct derivative of it are safeguarded by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and by the Windhoek declaration. Keeping this background in mind, UNESCO reminds us that the aim of this day is fourfold: “to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom, to assess the state of press freedom throughout the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.” [4]
How does Amnesty advocate for press freedom?
Amnesty International firmly upholds that defending freedom of expression is crucial for holding the powerful to account and for the flourishing of other human rights, such as the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. On Press Freedom Day, Amnesty’s advocacy is especially poignant. Their stance is articulated as follows: “Amnesty International supports people who speak out peacefully for themselves and for others – whether a journalist reporting on violence by security forces, a trade unionist exposing poor working conditions or an indigenous leader defending their land rights against big business. We would similarly defend the right of those who support the positions of big business, the security forces and employers to express their views peacefully. We consider anyone put in prison solely for exercising their right to free speech peacefully to be a prisoner of conscience and call for their immediate and unconditional release.” [5]
A concrete example out of the many instances in which Amnesty turns this statement into action is the case of Mexico. This country is reportedly one of the most dangerous ones for journalists and media reporters, with 141 journalists and media workers killed since the year 2000. [6] Not only that, most of these crimes have gone unpunished and Mexico has been in the top ten countries with impunity for crimes against the press for many years. [7] Taking action against this tendency, Amnesty has partnered with the Committee to Protect Journalists and conducted extensive research on the failings of the country’s federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, coming up with many different improvements that should be incorporated to make sure that the journalists who apply for protection actually are ensured a higher degree of safety. [8]
Raising awareness about matters related to press freedom is something that Amnesty regularly does. In 2023 a statement was released on the worrying condition of press freedom in East and Southern Africa, for example mentioning that “In countries like Zimbabwe, the introduction of the new Cyber and Data Protection Act, which was enacted in December 2021, has been used to intimidate and harass journalists for doing their work and threatens to curtail media freedom further.” [9] Another example is an article from 2017 in which concern was expressed regarding a new Electronic Crimes Law to counter dissent towards the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and the Hamas administration in Gaza: “Instead of presiding over a chilling campaign designed to silence dissent, intimidate journalists and breach the privacy of individuals, the Palestinian authorities must stop arbitrarily detaining journalists and drop charges against anyone prosecuted for freely expressing themselves. They must also urgently repeal the Electronic Crimes Law, said Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.” [10]
This day matters, the lives that have been lost matter!
As quoted above, one of the aims of this day is to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty, so I cannot end this article without attempting to do that. On the 9th of December, in honour of Human Rights Day on the 10th of December, the International Federation of Journalists released the 2023 data list with the names of the media workers killed throughout the year: 94. [11] However, the European Federation of Journalists reported on January 1st 2024, this number kept increasing in the last month of the year, growing up to 120 media workers who have lost their lives. Of these, 68% have been killed in the Gaza conflict. The list with the names and data can be found here. [12]
In addition, it is important to remember that press freedom does not merely concern the press but also us as the public, as we have the right to accurate information. As stated in a briefing of the European Parliament: “The other aspect of press freedom and freedom of expression is the right of the audience to be informed, with states having to guarantee media pluralism, so that citizens have access to 'impartial and accurate information and a range of opinion and comment, reflecting inter alia the diversity of political outlook within the country.” [13]
Lastly, another relevant aspect to mention is that “there is no explicit recognition or protection offered to the press and other media in international human rights standards, although such is often to be found in national laws and constitutions. At the international level, the freedoms and responsibilities of the press have been developed from the guarantee of freedom of expression of the individual.” [14] This is exactly what has been described in the case of Mexico mentioned above. Because this is such a crucial matter that affects us all, it would be highly beneficial if we could adopt an international treaty or mechanism for the protection of journalists.
I would like to conclude with the words of UNIC Caribbean director Liliana Garavito: “When journalists are intimidated and fear for their safety, the fourth estate is weakened, leaving the citizenry that journalists serve without the ability to hold those in power accountable. And such threats to the freedom of journalists and media workers are growing daily. From global health to the climate crisis, corruption, and human rights abuses, they face increased politicisation of their work and attempts to silence them from many sides.” [15]
On this day, and any other day, let us not take the work of journalists for granted.
Sources:
[14] Dominic McGoldrick, ‘Thought, Expression, Association, and Assembly’ in Daniel Moeckli, Sangeeta Shah, Sandesh Sivakumaran, International Human Rights Law (Forth Edition, Oxford University Press, 2022) p.221,222.
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