Defending Free Expression and Diverse Voices for Twenty Years

13 December 2008
ARTICLE 19: Defending Free Expression and Diverse Voices for Twenty Years

LONDON – ARTICLE 19 has celebrated its twentieth anniversary with the launch of a groundbreaking publication Speaking Out for Free Expression in London.

Since its inception, ARTICLE 19 has been a bold voice in defense of freedom of expression. Upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the organisation’s primary aim is to hold governments and other powerful actors to account when they fall short of their obligations to protect free speech.Set against the backdrop of dramatic world events, Speaking Out for Free Expression charts the course of free expression over the past two decades. It offers a compelling story of 34 countries in five regions, and essays by international experts, comparing today’s reality with the situation for free expression two decades ago. “Our twentieth anniversary compendium celebrates the advances made for free speech in many countries, while also pointing to the newer terrains of struggle,” comments Dr. Agnès Callamard, ARTICLE 19 Executive Director. Its foreword has been jointly written by four special rapporteurs on freedom of expression from the United Nations, the Americas, Africa and Europe. Also weighing in with expert opinions are Reporters without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Privacy International, UNESCO, the World Association of Newspapers and the American Civil Liberties Union, among others. Since 1988, the world has been altered immeasurably both by the revolution in information technology and by the ending of the Cold War, which opened up a plethora of newly democratised states. Together, these forces have completely transformed people’s means of and access to expression, information and communication, particularly with the advent of internet and the spread of mobile phones. Yet today, freedom of expression remains under threat. The global war on terror launched in 2001 has rolled back freedom of expression and speech in many well-established and emerging democracies. ARTICLE 19 is at the forefront of efforts to protect these hard-won freedoms and Speaking Out for Free Expression demonstrates unequivocally the need for constant vigilance. “It is extremely poignant to be commemorating our twentieth anniversary at the same time as the world celebrates the sixtieth year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” says Callamard. “It reminds us that free expression underpins all other civil, political and economic rights and is the very oxygen of genuine democracy.”The book was launched at a celebratory event in London, attended by 80 guests representing a broad spectrum of political, media and non-governmental organisations. A message of support from Zwelakhe Sisulu, a former political detainee and previous South African board member of ARTICLE 19 stated, “ARTICLE 19 is an organisation that for many had made the difference between life and death, between pain and the ignominy of a lonely death.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
• To obtain a copy of Speaking Out for Free Expression, contact Nicola Spurr at nicola@article19.org or +44 (0)207 278 9292 / +44 (0)772 686 7868. Or visit www.speaking-out.org. • To read the full text of Zwelakhe Sisulu’s message, go to http://www.article19.org/pdfs/other/statement-by-zwelakhe-sisulu-on-the-occasion-of-the-20th-anniversary-of-the-.pdf