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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today denounced the killing of journalist Taing Try in Cambodia on 12 October and urged the authorities to ensure that those responsible are punished for their crime.

“I condemn the killing of Taing Try,” the Director-General said. “People and communities must be informed and they require information from diverse channels, so they can make important personal and professional choices. This is why the work of journalists like Taing Try is so essential and why it is so important that those responsible for his murder are brought to justice.”

Taing Try—a reporter for several local newspapers and a member of the journalist association “Khmer Bracheathibtey” (“Khmer Democracy”)—was shot dead while investigating illegal logging in the province of Kratie.

The Director-General of UNESCO issues statements on the killing of media professionals 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(at)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…”