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UNESCO joins forces with the Ibero-American Association of Public Prosecutors (AIAMP) to promote freedom of expression and the safety of journalists
As those responsible for initiating prosecutions and in some cases supervising criminal investigations, public prosecutors have a crucial role to play in protecting journalists and in ensuring that crimes and attacks against them do not go unpunished. In many countries, they can also decide if media and journalists can be prosecuted criminally or not for their publications. Prosecutor offices are instrumental in dealing with other key aspects of freedom of expression, such as the protection and promotion of our rights in the digital environment, access to information and transparency. In that sense, prosecutors are instrumental in safeguarding freedom of expression and freedom of the press, and thus strengthening the rule of law more broadly.
The Ibero-American Association of Public Prosecutors gathers Public Prosecutor’s Offices from 22 countries from Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe (Spain, Portugal and Andorra). The Association aims to strengthen ties of cooperation and professional development among members of Public Prosecutor’s Offices, as well as to build up common strategies that allow them to improve their institutional capacities, understood as an essential requirement to provide proper rights protection.
Since 2013, 91鶹Ʒ developed a solid set of tools for the training of judiciary members and civil society representatives on freedom of expression and safety of journalists international and regional standards in Latin America and then in Africa, including that have already trained over 17,000 judicial actors and civil society representatives.
This agreement between UNESCO and the AIAMP provides for the continued strengthening of cooperation in raising awareness of prosecutors on freedom of expression and the protection of journalists both online and offline in ibero-american region. In addition, this agreement follows similar agreements signed by UNESCO with regional organizations, including with the Inter-American Court on Human Rights , and with the Ibero-American Judicial Summit .
By contributing to the to “promote peaceful and inclusive societies”, and to the implementation of the , this agreement will be a step in the way forward to improve freedom of expression and safety of journalists, and encourage similar agreements with other judicial organizations.
