MESSAGE
FROM DR. JEAN PING CHAIRPERSON
OF THE AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION ON
THE OCCASION OF WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY
MAY
3rd 2012
Jean Ping, AUC Chairperson |
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - The African Union
is celebrating this year, 2012, as the year of Shared Values. These values are accepted
and shared by all member States of our Union. Among them, there is one which is
a fundamental human right entrenched in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: Freedom of Speech.
This value is of critical importance because it feeds democracy and consolidates good governance, which our world needs.
This value is of critical importance because it feeds democracy and consolidates good governance, which our world needs.
The demonstrations that occurred in
2011 in several African countries, mostly in North Africa or the more recent
mobilization of the Senegalese people during the February and March Presidential
election confirm, once more, that freedom of speech
is indeed one of the most invaluable human rights, and a source of social
transformation.
Most importantly, all those who believed that their societies could evolve and develop without freedom of speech learned, at their own expense, that progress must follow the path of freedom and the respect of human rights, otherwise their citizens might turn against them.
Most importantly, all those who believed that their societies could evolve and develop without freedom of speech learned, at their own expense, that progress must follow the path of freedom and the respect of human rights, otherwise their citizens might turn against them.
Meanwhile, the
freedom of speech that was suppressed,
for too long, made way for the freedom of
the press that we are celebrating today. In this context, I can only fully embrace
the theme that was chosen by the United Nations for this year’s celebration: « New
Voices: Media Freedom Helping to Transform Societies ».
Indeed, new and
louder voices are always heard and their number is constantly increasing in the
streets and particularly through traditional media and social networks to
demand that their voices be taken into account and their rights respected, so
that the people may regain their dignity and enjoy their citizenship. Voices
have been raised to demand change regardless of the risks and perils, and have succeeded.
I would therefore, at this point, pay my respects to those who lost their lives
in breaking the wall of silence to inform their fellow citizens, moved by the
desire to see their society evolve into something better. It is through access
to information, freedom of speech and freedom of the press that citizens feel that
they are part and parcel of the life of their countries; since they are in a
better position to perceive the social, political and economic agendas of their
environment.
With new technologies
such as social media, the people and the youth in particular, are rising to
protest against all forms of injustice imposed on them and especially against
infringements on the freedom of expression and human rights. For it is above
all, by words and messages, that human beings exist. To deny this right is
simply to suppress the whole concept of democracy. In deed, popular uprisings
have introduced a new dimension in relations as well as in communication
between the government and the governed.
The "Arab
Spring" of the year 2011, marked a turning point with regard to freedom of
speech and the press, and I welcome the progress made. Popularizing the use of
media and social networks is a valuable opportunity to address the issues
raised by the people. Today, all children aged 7 to 17 years have one or more knowledge
of the many social networks available. In addition, the campaigns launched on
the web have shown the significance of these new means of communication through
their accessibility, their comprehensiveness and their simplicity. They offer
the opportunity to share information, facilitate access and dissemination, for
greater transparency.
The celebration of
World Press Freedom Day is also an opportunity for us to condemn in the
strongest terms, attacks and unacceptable treatment practiced here and there, on
journalists just because they have attempted to do their work well; this
commemoration gives us an opportunity to honor all those who have lost their
lives in carrying out their mission.
The African Union,
which has signed the African Platform on Access to Information (APAI), at the
end of the first Pan African Conference on Access to Information, held in Cape
Town in September last year, will spare no effort to help strengthen the
security and protection of journalists along with freedom of expression which
are the natural nurseries of freedom of the press; We will also continue
efforts in the cooperation with Member States, to adapt to the new realities
and needs of the populations, in monitoring the laws
enforced in the States, on access to information and freedom of expression.
Jean Ping
Chairperson of
the African Union Commission
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