Emphasising that the press must continue to be resolute in the defence of right to life and liberty, President Irfaan Ali said the free press was indispensable in the protection of human rights and rights to freedom of expression.
In a message for World Press Freedom Day, observed yesterday, Ali said that the free press acts as a watchdog against violations of freedom of conscience and the right to assembly, association and demonstration.
His government has faced heavy criticism over its treatment of members of the press and freedom of information. Nevertheless, Ali said the government and the country were committed to respecting press freedom.
“I take this opportunity also to iterate my condemnation of any attempt to intimidate or attack members of the media. Such repressible conduct has no place in a democratic society and is to be denounced in the strongest manner,” he said in the statement, which was released as an advertisement in all newspapers yesterday, as well as published on social media.
He went on to say that the media’s reach and influence must be tempered by a responsibility to provide truthful, accurate and complete information and to avoid the sins of misinformation, falsehoods, distortion and manipulation.
Respect for human rights is predicated on respecting human dignity, Ali added, before saying “A free press therefore upholds and enables human rights to the extent that it defends and promotes human dignity.”
While exercising the core functions of education, enlightenment and entertainment, the media must demonstrate commitment to human dignity by foremost upholding the truth and avoiding malicious actions aimed at bringing persons and entities into public disrepute, the President said.
The use of the media as a weapon to promulgate hatred and division and to defame and distort, represents a betrayal of the national ethos, the ethical and professional codes of the Fourth Estate, and an affront to human dignity, he added.
Noting that later this year, the international community will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes freedom of expression, Ali emphasised that the article which includes freedom of the press, is enshrined in Guyana’s Constitution.
Article 19 states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. This right is the foundation of press freedom since the media exercises and facilitates the right of persons to seek, receive and impart information and ideas.”
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the proclamation, by the United Nations General Assembly, of World Press Freedom Day.
World Press Freedom was observed under the theme “Shaping a Future of Rights: Freedom of expression as a driver for all other human rights.”
