The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today denounced a bomb attack that killed photojournalists Taqi Al-Din Al-Huthaifi, Wael Al-Absi, and Sa’ad Al-Nadhari in the southwest of Yemen on 26 May.
“I condemn the attack that killed Taqi Al-Din Al-Huthaifi, Wael Al-Absi, and Sa’ad Al-Nadhari,” said the Director-General. “I call on all to respect the Geneva Conventions, which reaffirm the civilian status of journalists and qualify attacks on the media during conflict as a war crime. Journalists’ work is particularly important in such situations, when their reports can help civilians survive.”
Photojournalists Taqi Al-Din Al-Huthaifi, Wael Al-Absi, and Sa’ad Al-Nadhari were killed while covering clashes in the city of Taiz. Two other journalists, Walid Al-Qadasi and Salal Al-Din Al-Wahbani, were also injured.
The Director-General of UNESCO issues statements on the killing of media workers in line with Resolution 29 adopted by UNESCO Member States at the Organization’s General Conference of 1997, entitled “Condemnation of Violence against Journalists.” These statements are posted on a dedicated webpage, UNESCO condemns the killing of journalists
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Media contact: Sylvie Coudray, s.coudray@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…”