The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, today condemned the murder of the journalist Sudip Dutta Bhaumik on 21 November in north-eastern India, near Agartala, capital of the state of Tripura.
“Journalists make a fundamental contribution to society by providing information which nurtures enlightened public debate. The assassination of journalists is the ultimate form of censorship. The prosecution of such crimes is essential to deter attacks against the media,” declared the Director-General.
Sudip Dutta Bhaumik was a senior journalist for Bengali-language daily Syandan Patrika and local television Venguard. The journalist was shot by one of the bodyguards of an army officer he was scheduled to meet.
In the spirit of Article 1 of the Constitution of UNESCO, the Director-General of the Organization issues statements on violations of press freedoms condemning the killing of media workers, in line with its action to take forward the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity. These statements are posted on a dedicated webpage, UNESCO condemns the killing of journalists
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Contact médias: Sylvie Coudray, s.coudray(at)unesco.org, +33 (0)1 45 68 42 12
L’UNESCO est l’agence des Nations Unies dont la mission consiste à défendre la liberté d’expression et la liberté de la presse. En vertu de l’Article premier de son Acte constitutif, l’Organisation est tenue « d’assurer le respect universel de la justice, de la loi, des droits de l’homme et des libertés fondamentales pour tous, sans distinction de race, de sexe, de langue, ou de religion, que la Charte des Nations Unies reconnaît à tous les peuples ». À cette fin, elle « favorise la connaissance et la compréhension mutuelle des nations en prêtant son concours aux organes d’information des masses ; elle recommande, à cet effet, tels accords internationaux qu’elle juge utiles pour faciliter la libre circulation des idées, par le mot et par l’image ».