The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today condemned the murder of Flor Alba Núñez Vargas in the southern Colombian city of Pitalito on 10 September.
“I condemn the killing of Flor Alba Núñez Vargas,” the Director-General said. “A free press and a free society go hand in hand, attacks on the one weaken the other, so I urge the authorities to do everything to investigate this crime and bring those responsible for it to justice.”
Flor Alba Núñez Vargas was killed in front of the building of La Preferida Estero radio station where she presented a daily news programme. She had also worked for television broadcasters Canal6, TV5 and Nación TV.
****
Media contact: Sylvie Coudray, s.coudray(at)unesco.org, +33 (0)1 45 68 42 12
UNESCO is the 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 the Organization is requested 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…”