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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, has deplored the killing of broadcaster Haji Mohammad Zubair Khaksar in the province of Nangarhar in eastern Afghanistan.

“I condemn the killing of Haji Mohammad Zubair Khaksar,” the Director-General said. “This crime is an intolerable attack on the fundamental human right of freedom of expression and on freedom of information.”

A senior broadcaster for the public Nangarhar Radio and Television network, Khaksar was killed on 29 January as he was returning to his home in the district of Surkhrod, after the broadcast of threats against media personnel in the province by an unregistered local radio station.

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.

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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…”