A/RES/69/185
The safety of journalists and the issue of impunity
promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet,9 and 27/12 of
25 September 2014 on the World Programme for Human Rights Education 8, as well
as Security Council resolution 1738 (2006) of 23 December 2006,
Welcoming the panel discussion of the Human Rights Council on the issue of
the safety of journalists, held on 11 June 2014, and taking note with appreciation of
the summary report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights thereon, submitted to the Council at its twenty-seventh session,10 as
well the 2014 report of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization entitled World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media
Development,
Taking note of all relevant reports of the special procedures of the Human
Rights Council with regard to the safety of journalists, in particular the reports of
the Special Rapporteurs on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of
opinion and expression 11 and on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions 12
submitted to the Human Rights Council at its twentieth session and the interactive
dialogue thereon,
Commending the role and the activities of the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization with regard to the safety of journalists and the
issue of impunity, and their facilitation of the commemoration of the International
Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, in consultation with relevant
entities within the United Nations system, Governments and relevant stakeholders,
Taking note with appreciation of the report of the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights on good practices concerning the safety of
journalists,13 submitted to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-fourth session,
Noting with appreciation the international conference on the safety of
journalists, held in Warsaw on 23 and 24 April 2013, and its specific
recommendations,14
Mindful that the right to freedom of opinion and expression is a human right
guaranteed to all, in accordance with article 19 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and
that it constitutes one of the essential foundations of a democratic society and one of
the basic conditions for its progress and development,
Acknowledging that journalism is continuously evolving to include inputs from
media institutions, private individuals and a range of organizations that seek,
receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, online as well as offline, in
the exercise of freedom of opinion and expression, in accordance with article 19 of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, thereby contributing to the
shaping of public debate,
_______________
9
Ibid., Sixty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 53 and corrigendum (A/67/53 and Corr.1), chap. IV, sect. A.
A/HRC/27/35.
11
A/HRC/20/17.
12
A/HRC/20/22 and Corr.1.
13
A/HRC/24/23.
14
See S/2013/422, annex.
10
2/4