The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today deplored the murder of radio news presenter Fausto Elio Valle Hernández on 11 March in the town of Sabá, in the northern Honduran department of Colón.
“I condemn the brutal murder of Fausto Elio Valle Hernández,” the Director-General said. “I call on the Honduran authorities to investigate this killing and bring its culprits to justice. I am deeply concerned by the number of journalists killed in Honduras in recent times and am concerned about the ability of media professionals to exercise their fundamental human right to free expression amidst such violence.”
Fausto Elio Valle Hernández, 54, was the presenter of the La Voz de la Notícia news programme on Radio Alegre de Colón. He was hacked to death by a man with a machete as he was riding back home.
Fourteen Honduras journalists and media workers, including Fausto Elio Valle Hernández, have been listed on UNESCO’s dedicated webpage, UNESCO Remembers Assassinated Journalists since 2009.
In 2010, UNESCO supported the training workshops for Honduran 140 journalists and media officers in the legal framework for freedom of expression, access to information, and elections in the departments of Santa Rosa de Copán and Danli.
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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…”