Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, today condemned the killing of Carlos William Flores. Mr. Flores was killed on 13 September in the Honduran department of Cortes on the border with Guatemala.
Unknown attackers on motorcycle shot Mr. Flores and a female colleague. He died shortly after in hospital, while his injured colleague survived. Carlos William Flores worked for Canal 22 in the town of Cuyamel.
“I condemn the killing of Carlos William Flores,” said Director-General Bokova. “Freedom of expression is a fundamental right enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and plays an essential role in democracy. I urge the authorities to investigate this crime and to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
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…”