IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
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PRESS RELEASE - INTERNATIONAL

27 May 2002

Western democracies undermining freedom of expression

SOURCE: World Association of Newspapers (WAN), Paris

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is a WAN press release:

Bruges, Belgium, 27 May 2002

Press Freedom Weakened by Western Democracies

Western democracies are undermining freedom of expression in the mistaken
belief their actions will aid the fight against terrorism, the President of
the World Association of Newspapers said Monday.

"The repressors of the free press have found all the inspiration and
justification that they needed even in developed democracies like the US and
Britain, where the governments have called on the media to refrain from
broadcasting or printing the self-justifying messages of Osama bin Laden,"
said WAN President Roger Parkinson, at the opening of the World Newspaper
Congress and World Editors Forum.

"If one clear message about information needs to come out of the war on
terrorism, it is not that we should all shake in our boots about the ravings
of bin Laden, and seek to keep as quiet as possible about them, but that the
international community should put all its political weight and money behind
every effort to bring down the barriers and obstacles to the free flow of
information and ideas," he said.

Mr Parkinson called for a reversal of the current trend, and more support
for "independent news enterprises needed to distribute free information
widely to populations kept until now in darkness."

"The breeding grounds of international terrorism are by and large those
countries where the right to free expression, to the free flow of
information, to open discussion, and to the free press through which these
rights are exercised, are systematically outlawed and crushed," he said.

"It is in darkness, in obscurity, in silence, without opposition, that the
terrorists hatch their deadly plans."

Mr Parkinson said: "It is no accident that bin Laden operated out of a
country which had totally outlawed free expression, information and debate,
nor that the regimes most supportive of his and other terrorism networks are
among the most repressive in the world."

"Here, in our view, is the real battleground for the democratic nations," he
said. "It is a battle for the liberation of free information and debate,
which is the best antidote against obscurantism and fanaticism and the
terrorism which it provokes."

Mr Parkinson said the United States' policies in the wake of September 11
had contributed to the increasing threats to press freedom.

"The United States, which in recent years had made the defence of free
expression one of the cornerstones of its diplomacy and foreign aid efforts,
has done a brisk about-turn. This change of mood and policy is illustrated
in its attitude to the Qatar TV station al-Jazeerah. That station, praised
until then as a model of free expression in the Arab world, suddenly became
one that had to be muzzled as soon as it did not confine itself to relaying
the American line, but gave air time to bin Laden."

"The new understanding that the United States is extending to authoritarian
governments known for the suppression of free speech is another negative
consequence of the fight against terrorism," he said.

"Dwelling on the attitude and actions of the American government, when the
world is full of real villains, might seem unfair, were it not for the
immense power and influence that the US wields on the global stage and the
effects its policies and example have on so many other countries," Mr
Parkinson said.

He gave several examples:

--Singapore, which has praised the "healthy guided censorship" which it sees
in new US information policies;

--Zimbabwe, seeking to justify repression against independent journalism,
which said, "if the most celebrated democracies in the world won't allow
their national interests to be tampered with, we will not allow it too."

--Italy, where former Foreign Minister Renato Ruggiero praised the "example"
of Tunisia's dictators in the fight against terrorism.

"The consequence is a new danger that the fight against terrorism may
relegate press freedom to the background, when actually it is one of our
best bulwarks against violence and hatred," said Mr Parkinson.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry,
defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000
newspapers; its membership includes 71 national newspaper associations,
individual newspaper executives in 100 countries, 13 news agencies and nine
regional and world-wide press groups.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 25 rue
d'Astorg, 75008 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49
48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: [email protected]. Internet:
http://www.wan-press.org

The information contained in this press release is the sole responsibility
of WAN. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
WAN.
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