In what they described as a pivotal move to strengthen the protection of freedom of expression, journalist safety and other fundamental freedoms, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) last week signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
A joint statement said that the agreement underscores the shared commitment to upholding democratic principles and enhancing the rule of law throughout the Caribbean region.
The agreement between UNESCO and the CCJ targets several key areas, particularly the protection of rights enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments. The statement said that the MoU provides a structured framework for joint initiatives to achieve shared goals in the areas of freedom of expression, access to information and safety of journalists.
“In light of the escalating threats to journalists worldwide, the agreement also supports the implementation of the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity. UNESCO and the CCJ will collaborate to create safer environments for journalists and media workers across the Caribbean region”, the statement said.
The MoU also highlights the judiciary’s role in safeguarding freedom of expression and other human rights, ensuring justice and promoting transparency. The statement said that this includes specialized training for judicial officials to enhance knowledge and capacities on issues related to freedom of expression, access to information and journalist safety. The agreement also addresses emerging challenges such as misinformation and disinformation, the impact of artificial intelligence in judicial systems, and the judicial weaponization through what was described as Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs).
The real objective of SLAPPs, Tawfik Jelassi UNESCO Assistant Director-General, has said is not to win a court case, but to overwhelm the defendant through protracted legal proceedings, excessive costs – even at the risk of bankruptcy – and the related psychological burden. SLAPPs focused on defamation charges are frequently used to discourage journalists from advancing their work by preventing the publication or removal of certain content and discouraging others from covering the same issues. There may be shades of SLAPPs in the reactions to cases brought by environmental activists in the regulation of the activities of ExxonMobil here.
Justice Adrian Saunders, President of the CCJ said that the memorandum “will contribute to strengthening the rule of law and will in no way compromise the court’s judicial independence.
This memorandum is most welcome as it signals that Guyana’s topmost court will accoutre itself with an even greater understanding of press freedom, freedom of expression, the role of journalists, the importance of holding public officials accountable and the absolute need to protect sources of information.
It comes at a time when the profession of journalism has come under siege from a variety of actors even as standard forms of the media are at risk from a slew of digital footprints of wildly varying quality along with artificial intelligence.
Today we express solidarity with journalists of the Jamaica Gleaner who have come under scurrilous attacks from unknown sources in the aftermath of the Integrity Commission’s investigation of the finances of Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness. As the investigation heats up, advocates of Mr Holness and his party, the JLP have accused journalists of the Jamaica Gleaner of all manner of indiscretions but particularly involvement in an alleged People’s National Party-led drive to remove Mr Holness from government. Journalists are easy scapegoating targets in the deeply polarised garrisons that exist in many parts of the region. The targeting of the Jamaica Gleaner journalists has triggered a belated defence from the Holness administration.
According to the Jamaica Gleaner, Information Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon on October 9th condemned recent attacks on Jamaican journalists, explaining that her silence on the issue was due to not being asked earlier.
“You have been deadly silent despite people calling media houses politically aligned and naming journalists as being linked to parties. Why no comment from you, Minister?” asked senior journalist Arthur Hall, an editor at the Jamaica Observer, during a post-Cabinet press briefing.
According to the Gleaner, Dr Morris Dixon replied, “No, well, you haven’t asked me. So, here I am now, you’ve asked me.”
She went on to emphasise that the administration of Prime Minister Holness “is very much committed to press freedom” and that “everything we have done has demonstrated that.”
“…attacks on the media, that is never, ever acceptable at all. Never acceptable to attack the media,” the minister said.
One hopes that the Jamaican authorities will get to the bottom of who is behind these attacks on the Gleaner journalists and that the JLP will also strongly condemn this behaviour. Hopefully, too, the criminal defamation laws still on the books in various parts of the Caribbean will also come on the radar of this joint UNESCO/CCJ memorandum.
At home, the PPP/C government and some of its top functionaries also need refresher courses on the role of the press and the need to conduct themselves with propriety. This weakness has been evident throughout the life of this administration in the way in which it has berated members of the press and media houses. It was on glaring display earlier this month. Incensed at being criticised in a Stabroek News report, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd launched into an extraordinary verbal attack on a reporter of this newspaper.
Upon entering the Arthur Chung Conference Centre to cover President Irfaan Ali’s address, the reporter was confronted by Mr Todd who angrily criticized the newspaper’s reportage of the migrant situation in Linden as well as the coverage given to the Mayor of Linden, Sharma Solomon and MP Jermaine Figueira. Mr Todd screamed angrily in the lobby of the Centre.
“Why are they on page 2! They don’t do anything! They hadn’t done anything back in December like they had claimed! You are embarrassing me on an international stage! What do you mean “raps” [The article’s headline is ‘Figueira, Solomon rap Todd for snubbing local leaders during Linden visit on migrants’], how could they rap me! Your article is false! When we went there was nobody to verify the claims! In your article, you couldn’t even name who said anything! Who are these anonymous sources! Why aren’t you naming them?! These Venezuelans are not hungry! They are working! They are working harder than the Lindeners and that’s why they are getting the jobs! This is nonsense! Stabroek News needs to get themselves together! That article with Figueira and Solomon is not balanced at all! I went and spoke to the Venezuelans myself! This is poor journalism! Stabroek News is writing as if the migrants are not humans! They are escaping a serious situation back in Venezuela”, he raged.
This was not the conduct one expects of any government functionary and certainly not of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the precincts of Parliament.
