Everyone has a role to play in press freedom, asserts Narcos star Diego Luna
Talking to the press at United Nations Office in Geneva ahead of a screening of his new documentary silent stateMr. Luna affirmed that their safety is everyone’s responsibility.
“I think it’s time for us, as citizens, to step up and protect the press around the world and protect the voices that are so important for us to experience freedom, to experience democracy,” he said. and live in a healthy world.” .
“It is impossible to access the truth without a free press.”
According to UNESCOThe United Nations Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization has a mandate to monitor and promote the safety of journalists worldwide in 2022 and 2023, a journalist was killed every four days.
Efforts to encourage governments to do more to protect journalists are also being led by the United Nations human rights office. OHCHRled the International Day to End Impunity for Journalists.
Journalists were attacked
A staggering 8 out of 10 murders of journalists not investigated around the world, Renaud de Villaine, OHCHR Human Rights Officer, who highlighted the “persistence” of the killing of journalists today.
“It happens in conflict situations, like in the Middle East and also in Ukraine,” he said.
But it can also happen in countries not at war like Mexico, where journalists investigating corruption, drugs, cartels and cartels like those featured in the documentary “are specifically targeted.” body”.
Since 2017, Mr. de Villaine noted, there have been 69 recorded murders and 32 recorded cases of missing journalists in Mexico, before stressing that the issue concerns political issues. deeper system that OHCHR is working with the government to address.
“Journalists are not the only ones being targeted…the problem goes beyond journalism,” he affirmed, noting the recent gruesome murder of city mayor Alejandro Arcos in the state of Guerrero.
Reflecting those concerns, Santiago Maza, Director silent statesimply explaining that “violence pays off” for journalists.
The theme running through the documentary is the stories of brave investigative reporters from Mexico, who endured violence and death threats that sent them into hiding, in pursuit of His work covers topics including illegal logging and exploitation of vulnerable communities. Rivers have been redirected.
From left: Diego Luna, actor and executive producer, State Of Silence; Renaud de Villaine, Human Rights Officer, OHCHR; Santiago Maza, director, State Of Silence; and Thibaut Bruttin, Director General, Reporters Without Borders
Opportunity to change
“The current situation will not change on its own“, Mr. Maza emphasized.
“Having a new president doesn’t mean the situation will improve, but it does provide an opportunity to deal with this issue in a reasonable way and change the hierarchy of what the Government needs to address.”
The dangers that journalists face today include the growing trend in many countries to criminalize their activities using government machinery.
“The judicial system in many countries is used and I would say sometimes also weaponized by State actors, but also non-state actors targeting journalists and media outlets,” Mr. de Villaine said.
“It explains the criminalization of journalists, it explains why there is still a high percentage of journalists detained around the world – more than 300 people,” he said, citing the NGO Committee to Protect Journalists. newspaper.
When you silence one journalist, you’re not just silencing one voice, you’re silencing the voices of thousands of communities.
– Thibaut Bruttin, Reporters Without Borders
Not just statistics
According to Reporters Without Borders, Mexico ranks 121st in the World Press Freedom Index and 165th in safety.
A staggering 155 journalists have been killed there since 2000 because organized crime “is able to target and beat journalists…systemic corruption,” said Thibaut Bruttin, NGO Director General. , plus the failure of some organizations.”
“Journalists are not numbers, they are real people,” he told journalists in Geneva.
“It is not another journalist killed, it is another story that has passed, it is another life interrupted…Also, journalists do not die, they are killed. There is someone behind it.”
Explaining his reasons for wanting to participate in the project as its executive producer, Mr. Luna said that in addition to the “scandal” of the large number of journalists killed in Mexico, it was necessary to address the negative impact more broadly to society.
“That’s what violence does,” he said. “It’s the number of young people today who are questioning whether or not to pursue their dream of becoming a journalist, it’s the number of people who are afraid of doing interviews today.”
He added: “When you silence a journalist, you’re not just silencing one voice, you’re silencing the voices of thousands of communities that need that journalist to connect with the outside world.”
