Close to one hundred journalists were killed last year and almost two hundred remain behind bars worldwide simply for doing their job. Two weeks back we, the authors, called on the UN in Geneva to take immediate action by creating the position of a Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for the Safety of Journalists. A letter highlighting the importance of the appointment was also presented from the Fahmy Foundation and the Canadian Journalists for Freedom of Expression to Ambassador Rosemary McCarney representing Canada at the United Nations.
Despite numerous resolutions adopted on this monumental issue in the past decade, including by the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, illiberal governments and extremist groups have been increasingly targeting reporters leaving almost no neutral ground to report freely and safely—a fundamental core of democracy.
In order to implement these binding laws only a Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Protection of Journalists, working closely and swiftly with a mandate applicable to that of the UN Secretary General, will bring the much needed political experience and legitimacy to extract and help targeted journalists. This special envoy will bear the main responsibility of monitoring compliance by UN member states within their obligations under international law.
Throughout history the honorable craft of journalism was a dangerous one. In this age of terrorism many governments are using new, vague terrorism laws and the so-called “war on terrorism” as an excuse to clampdown on civil liberties in what could be considered a partial war on journalism and human rights. There is no doubt that daily terrorist attacks require unprecedented strategies to counter this heightened wave of terrorism. We echo the sentiments of the masses and can only beat the terrorists hoping to rob us of our humanity when our leaders maintain that balance between implementing a security approach while maintaining those hard-earned civil liberties.
Indeed, the “end of history”, a notion that gained a certain degree of traction in the late nineteen-eighties, now seems hopelessly optimistic. The unstoppable progress of liberal democracies, allied with an ever-expanding economy – a fantasy of “happy globalisation” — has been stripped away to reveal a grim recognition of nationalism, religious extremism, wild capitalism and its economic shocks. The human cost of unregulated globalisation is everywhere apparent.
Today, autocrats hide behind the façade of democracy as they loot their countries and corrode human rights. Newspapers are threatened with closure, journalists imprisoned. Plutocrats control vast swathes of the media with a corresponding reduction in both quantity and quality of news coverage. Paradoxically, given the rapid dissemination of ideas in our Internet age, both the freedom of the press and freedom of expression are increasingly imperilled. Is the dream of liberal democracies, with its promise of social progress and economic fairness, only a dream?
A fortnight ago Liberal International, the world federation of Liberal Parties and peoples committed to equality of opportunity, social progress and freedom of expression, testified to the global erosion of liberal democracy and human rights by authoritarian regimes to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. When this council was created in 2006 cynics argued that it would be ineffective and indeed controlled by countries that have no interest in furthering human rights in the world. And indeed that did initially appear to be a real possibility, especially when one looked at the background of those elected to sit in the council. But slowly, over the past decade, the Council is becoming an effective instrument for human rights progress. And it has likewise served as a means of moral persuasion for many of its members. The very fact of membership, the slow and patient testimony from multiple witnesses and organisations, becomes a force for positive political change.
Ideas inspire, ideologies attempt to provide coherent practice, but organisations are not bureaucratic obstacles to good governance but can rather serve as a means of dissemination and encouragement. The recognition of liberal political parties by our organisation can prove a support in countries antipathic to democratic principles. And to close with one current example, given the recent Pride marches around Canada, the Human Rights Council’s decision last week to nominate an independent expert to evaluate the rights of LGBT citizens in its member states can only be seen as a potential good. Given that in many of these states the risk posed for freedom of expression of these citizens is a matter of life or death, a common evaluation can push intolerant governments toward democratic freedoms for all of its citizens.
Responsibility to Protect – Safeguard journalists and secure democratic values: UN must appoint Special Representative – Juli Minoves-Triquell PhD: President of Liberal International, Ambassador to the United Nations (1995-2001) and Mohamed Fahmy: Award-winning journalist
