‘States must protect journalists’

video by Kat Raymundo/editing by Cong Corrales

SOME POLITICIANS may be averse to this idea, but all states have a responsibility to protect journalists, not because they belong to a special class, but because they have a special role in any democracy.

This was the declaration of United Nations Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Frank La Rue during the Asia Regional Consultation on Freedom of Expression and Civil Liberties in Bangkok last week.

Speaking before civil society and media leaders from all over the region, La Rue emphasized that journalists have a key role in a democracy that must be protected by the state.

“There is a special responsibility of the state to protect journalists,” La Rue said. “It is not that journalists have different standards of human rights that anyone else. What the state is protecting is the role of the journalist. The Press is one of the fundamental elements to keep society informed so we can all exercise the right to freedom of information.”

La Rue said he has submitted a report to the United Nations stating that all states are obliged to provide at least three kinds of protection for journalists.

First, La Rue said, there must be “an emergency mechanism for physical protection” for journalists. Second is legal protection through the “abolition of all legal obstacles” against journalists. This may be done by decriminalizing slander, libel, “and other criminal forms of legal harassment.”

Lastly, La Rue emphasized the need for “a political element of protection.”

“Higher levels of government should make statements on how important is the role of the press and media to a democratic society,” La Rue said.