Unesco Director General Audrey Azoulay - AP Photo / Michel Euler / Sipa

UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay said on Monday "concerned about the increase in acts of violence against journalists" covering demonstrations, recalling that "freedom of expression is a vital element of democracy". "Covering live events is at the heart of journalistic work", underlines in a press release the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, charged, among its mandates, with protecting freedom of expression .

This work is "essential to guarantee freedom of the press and the right to information," she insists. However, “in recent years, waves of protests around the world have shown the risks of disproportionate use of force by law enforcement against journalists: reporters have been killed or injured by rubber bullets , others, engaged in the direct coverage of demonstrations, were detained or accused of not having followed the orders of dispersion, and professional material was confiscated or destroyed, "deplores the institution.

"Unprecedented aggression"

In early June, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, denounced the "unprecedented aggression" against journalists in the United States. The country is currently in the grip of a vast protest movement against racism and police brutality.

Unesco recalls that, since 2013, it has trained more than 3,400 members of the police force in 17 countries and nearly 17,000 judges and judicial actors in Latin America and Africa, thanks to online courses on freedom of expression , in order to make these different actors understand this "fundamental right" as well as the essential role of the media in democracy. She calls for a generalization of "these educational devices to all countries".

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  • Journalism
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  • Unesco