The Director-General of UNESCO today voiced concern about the safety of journalists in Guatemala following the killing of veteran radio personality Luis de Jesús Lima in Zacapa, in the east of the country.
“I condemn the killing of Luis de Jesús Lima and call on the authorities to do all in their power to bring the culprits of this crime to trial,” the Director-General said. “Letting violence against journalists go unpunished is detrimental to media professionals’ ability carry out their work; it undermines both freedom of expression and freedom of information.”
Lima, 68, a journalist and broadcaster at Radio Sultana Zacapata, was shot dead on 6 August as he was arriving to the station where he hosted a popular programme of music and interviews with local personalities.
Lima is the third journalist killed in Guatemala this year. He is remembered in the dedicated webpage, UNESCO Condemns Killing of Journalists.
****
Media contact: Sylvie Coudray +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…”