Fuente : UNESCO
http://www.unesco.org/

Director-General condemns murder of Iraqi TV producer Adnan Al Bayati

/noticias.info/ The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, today condemned the murder of Iraqi television producer and interpreter Adnan Al Bayati on July 23. Mr Adnan had been working for Italian television stations Rai, Mediaset and TG3, and for the magazine Panorama.

“I condemn the murder of Adnan Al Bayati,” the Director-General said. “I cannot find words strong enough to express my outrage at the criminal actions of the perpetrators of this and all too many other murders in Iraq. These criminals are working against the legitimate right of their own society to determine its future with open eyes. Freedom of expression and press freedom are fundamental human rights and I call on all to do everything in their power to make them prevail in Iraq.”

Mr Al Bayati, who was killed at home in Baghdad in the presence of his wife and daughter, is the second media worker to have been murdered in Iraq in ten days. According figures published by the International News Safety Organization (INSI) before Mr Al Bayati’s murder, 80 journalists, or support staff had been killed in Iraq since the start of the war.

UNESCO is the only United Nations agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. Article 1 of its Constitution requires the Organization to “further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.” To realize this purpose the Organization is required to “collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image…” notas_de_prensa_archivo