Freedom of the Press
This week – supporting freedom of the press, naming state sponsors of terrorism, and recognizing Arab-American achievement in the United States.
Global events are celebrating World Press Freedom Day on May 3. These events spotlight repression against independent journalists and members of the media.
In 2007, 171 journalists were killed while pursuing their work, just short of the yearly record. Hundreds more were threatened, imprisoned or tortured, according to the United Nations. In 1993, the U.N. General Assembly established May 3 as the day to raise awareness of the challenges to press freedom.
The Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization of the U.N., or UNESCO, will hold its main activities in Mozambique, where press freedom has begun to thrive following a civil war that ended in 1992. Despite the November 2000 murder of a leading Mozambican investigative reporter, Carlos Cardoza, the press has been vital in Mozambique as a credible, independent voice, a situation not typical for Africa.
World Press Freedom Day is important because it reminds citizens of the role that free and open media have in supporting democracy, civil society, and transparency in government. According to experts, an anti-democratic movement against the media began in some countries following the 2003 “Rose Revolution” in Georgia and other similar events in post-communist societies in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
The press played a large role in facilitating those movements. Many repressive governments fear independent media in their countries. For countries where democratic civil societies are emerging, World Press Freedom Day has become a very significant event. On that day, the international community officially acknowledges the importance of a free media and extends their support to those journalists.
The right to free expression and the exchange of information is guaranteed in Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Without state sponsors, terrorist groups would find it far more difficult to find the funding, weapons and explosives, safe havens and recruits they need to commit violent acts. According to the 2007 Country Reports on Terrorism, released April 30 by the U.S. State Department, state sponsorship of terrorism continues by many nations.
Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria remained on the 2007 state sponsors list. Several of those countries have taken significant steps to cooperate in the war on terror, such as Sudan. Others, like Cuba, Iran and Syria, have not renounced terrorism. Iran and Syria routinely provided safe haven, resources and guidance to terrorist organizations.
Of the five countries on the annual list, Iran remains the most significant state sponsor of terrorism. The report says that Hezbollah is crucial to carrying out Iran's terrorism strategy. Iranian leaders believe terrorism helps the regime by deterring U.S. or Israeli attacks and supports Iran's regional influence through intimidation.
The report said that North Korea has not sponsored any terrorist acts since the bombing of a Korean Airlines flight in 1987. And as part of the Six-Party Talks, the United States again stated its intent to remove North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Established in 1999 by the Arab American Institute Foundation, the Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Awards recognize individuals and organizations whose work promotes cultural understanding and cooperation. On April 23rd, guests gathered in Washington for the 10th annual presentations of the awards.
The awards were created to celebrate the life of the great Arab-American writer, philosopher and poet Gibran Kahlil Gibran, who died in New York 77 years ago this month. The honorees at the 2008 event were Refugees International, Reporters Without Borders, U.S. Representative Ray LaHood, himself an Arab American, and the Barenboim-Said Foundation. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also attended and gave remarks at the event.
According to Helen Samhan, executive director of the foundation, there are nearly 4 million Americans of Arab descent in the United States today. The foundation is based in Washington and supports programs that promote greater awareness of Arab Americans in the United States, demographic research and international outreach.
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