UNESCO chief condemns deaths of media workers in Brazil and Iraq
| Publisher | UN News Service |
| Publication Date | 30 August 2016 |
| Cite as | UN News Service, UNESCO chief condemns deaths of media workers in Brazil and Iraq, 30 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57c6c63140c.html [accessed 18 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
30 August 2016 - The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom has spoken out against the murder of two media workers - Mauricio Campos Rosa, a journalist and newspaper owner in Brazil, and Ali Ghani, a broadcast technician in Iraq.
In separate statements, the agency noted that Mr. Campos Rosa, owner and writer for the local O Grito newspaper, was murdered on 17 August in Santa Luzia municipality in Brazil's Minas Gerais state.
"I call on the authorities to investigate this crime and bring its perpetrators to justice. Impunity must not be allowed to benefit those who use violence to prevent the media from keeping us informed," the Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, said in one of the statements.
In the other statement - on the death of Mr. Ghani, a staff member of Iraqi satellite channel Al-Ahad TV, killed by mortar fire while his team was reporting from Jaziret al-Khalideya in Iraq's Anbar province on 20 August - Ms. Bokova underlined the need to ensure protection of the media and called on "all concerned to respect their civilian status in times of war, in keeping with the Geneva Conventions."
The UNESCO Director-General regularly issues statements on the killing of media workers in line with Resolution 29 adopted by UNESCO Member States in 1997, entitled "Condemnation of Violence against Journalists."
