UK promotes media freedom in Guatemala
To mark the 20th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, the British Embassy is highlighting the importance of media freedom, and the need to tackle impunity for attacks on journalists.
British Embassy celebrates World Press Freedom Day
At least two journalists have been killed in Guatemala this year.
The promotion of freedom of expression is as an essential element of the UK’s work on democracy and human rights. The 2012 FCO Report on Human Rights included a section on the work in support of this of the British embassies and high commissions around the world.
From London, the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said:
We all owe a debt of gratitude to the courageous journalists who risk imprisonment, injury and death to report from repressive countries or conflict zones around the world. It is easy to take for granted the stream of information that reaches us each day from across the globe. But many people run enormous risks to bring it to us. Fourteen journalists have already been killed in the first four months of this year alone: half of them in Syria. My thoughts are with them and their families and friends. And I also pay tribute to the increasing number of “citizen journalists” who use social media to provide ground truth about what is happening in other countries, who often face pressure and intimidation.
The UK fully supports action taken to strengthen the mandate and working methods of UNESCO and other UN bodies to tackle violence against journalists and the high levels of impunity through a joint UN Plan of Action, which was inspired by a UK resolution.