91�鶹������Ʒ����

The Director-General of UNESOC, Irina Bokova, today urged an investigation into the killing of Antonio Gamboa Urias, the editor of a local magazine in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.

“I condemn the killing of Antonio Gamboa Urias,” the Director-General said. “It is important that efforts to shed light on this crime proceed swiftly and unhindered. Guns must not be allowed to silence journalists and deprive people of their right to obtain the information they need from a wide range of sources.”

Antonio Gamboa Urias, editor of Nueva Prensa, a local magazine published in the coastal city of Los Mochis, was abducted on 10 October. His half buried and bullet-riddled body was found 13 days later.

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.

                                                ****

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…”