(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is an 11 September 2000 IAPA press release: UNESCO DIRECTOR-GENERAL SIGNS DECLARATION OF CHAPULTEPEC Paris (September 11, 2000) – The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, endorsed the Declaration of Chapultepec today when he put his signature to the document in a special […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is an 11 September 2000 IAPA press release:
UNESCO DIRECTOR-GENERAL SIGNS DECLARATION OF CHAPULTEPEC
Paris (September 11, 2000) – The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, endorsed the Declaration of Chapultepec today when he put his signature to the document in a special ceremony at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France.
The Declaration was drafted at a hemisphere conference on free speech in Mexico City in 1994 sponsored by the Inter American Press Association (IAPA). It sets out 10 principles for ensuring freedom of the press. The Declaration of Chapultepec was also supported by the previous UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor Zaragoza in 1995.
IAPA President Tony Pederson presented Matsuura with a plaque commemorating his endorsement of the Declaration and commitment to free speech and press freedom. Pederson stated, “We hope that Mr. Matsuura’s example will continue to spread throughout the Americas bringing hope and strength to our struggle in protecting the freedom of journalists to report the truth in a safe environment without fear for their lives or the lives of their families, and of all citizens to enjoy the right to freely express themselves.”
Other UNESCO representatives in attendance during the signing ceremony included Sonia Mendieta de Badaroux, Chairperson of the Executive Board; Alain Modoux, Director of the Division of Communications, Information and Informatics; and Marcello Scarone, Specialist for the Programme for Freedom of Expression, Democracy and Peace. Representatives from other press freedom organizations also participated in the event, including Larry Kilman, Director of Communications of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN); Bernard Wouts, French Board member of the International Press Institute (IPI); and Ronald Koven, European Representative of the World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC).
The IAPA was represented by its top officers, including: President Tony Pederson, Houston Chronicle, Houston, Texas; First Vice President, Danilo Arbilla, Búsqueda, Montevideo Uruguay; Chairman of the Executive Committee, Andrés García Gamboa, Novedades de Quintana Roo, Cancun, Mexico; Alejandro Miro Quesada C., El Comercio, Lima, Peru, and Chairman of the Chapultepec Committee; former Presidents Andrés García Lavín, Novedades de Mérida, Yucatán, México and James McClatchy, McClatchy Newspapers, Sacramento, California; distinguished members Bartolomé Mitre and Alberto Schazín, La Nacion, Buenos Aires, Argentina; and IAPA Executive Director Julio E. Muñoz.
Before the signing ceremony, the IAPA delegation was invited to lunch by the Director-General, where they discussed a wide variety of IAPA activities, including the Impunity Project and investigation of unpunished crimes against journalists. Pederson also invited Mr. Matsuura to attend the IAPA Midyear Meeting in March 16-20, 2001, in Fortaleza, Brazil.
