Statement by the President on World Press Freedom Day
On this World Press Freedom Day, the United States honors the role of a
free press in creating sustainable democracies and prosperous
societies. We pay special tribute to those journalists who have
sacrificed their lives, freedom or personal well-being in pursuit of
truth and justice.
Over sixty years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
proclaimed the right of every person “to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,”
that right remains in peril in far too many countries.
While this year has seen some positive developments, like the release
of journalists along with hundreds of other political prisoners in
Burma, arbitrary arrests and detentions of journalists continue across
the globe. As we condemn recent detentions of journalists like Mazen
Darwish, a leading proponent of free speech in Syria, and call for their
immediate release, we must not forget others like blogger Dieu Cay,
whose 2008 arrest coincided with a mass crackdown on citizen journalism
in Vietnam,
or journalist Dawit Isaak who has been held incommunicado by
the Eritrean government for over a decade without formal charge or
trial.
Threats and harassment, like that endured by Ecuadorian journalist
Cesar Ricaurte and exiled Belarusian democratic activist Natalya
Radzina, and indirect censorship, including through restrictions on
freedom of movement like those imposed on Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez,
continue to have a chilling effect on freedom of expression and the
press. We call on all governments to protect the ability of journalists,
bloggers, and dissidents to write and speak freely without retribution
and to stop the use of travel bans and other indirect forms of
censorship to suppress the exercise of these universal rights.
In some cases, it is not just governments threatening the freedom of
the press. It is also criminal gangs, terrorists, or political factions.
No matter the cause, when journalists are intimidated, attacked,
imprisoned, or disappeared, individuals begin to self-censor, fear
replaces truth, and all of our societies suffer. A culture of impunity
for such actions must not be allowed to persist in any country.
This year, across the Middle East, North Africa and beyond, the world
witnessed not only these perils, but also the promise that a free press
holds for fostering innovative, successful, and stable democracies. On
this World Press Freedom Day, we call upon all governments to seize that
promise by recognizing the vital role of a free press and taking the
necessary steps to create societies in which independent journalists can
operate freely and without fear.
