特別的敬意

白宮新聞秘書辦公室

2012年5月3日

總統就「世界新聞自由日」發表聲明

值此「世界新聞自由日」（World Press Freedom Day），美國頌揚新聞自由在創建持久的民主政體和繁榮的社會當中所起的作用，我們向那些在追求真相與公正的事業中犧牲了生命、自由或個人福祉的新聞工作者致以特別的敬意。

《世界人權宣言》(Universal Declaration of Human Rights)宣告人人有權「通過任何媒介和不論國界尋求、接受和傳遞消息和思想」，但在60多年後的今天，這一權利在太多的國家中仍然受到威脅。

儘管今年我們已經看到了一些積極的進展，例如在緬甸，新聞記者和數百名其他政治犯獲得釋放，但任意逮捕和拘留新聞記者的情況仍然在全球繼續。在我們譴責敘利亞當局最近拘留知名的言論自由倡導者馬曾·達維什（Mazen Darwish）等新聞工作者並呼籲立即釋放他們的同時，我們絕不能忘記在越南大規模壓制公民新聞時於2008年遭到逮捕的博客作者阮黃海（Dieu Cay），或10多年前被厄利垂亞政府不經正式控告或審判就逮捕並一直單獨羈押的達維特·埃薩克（Dawit Isaak）等其他人。

厄瓜多新聞記者西澤·里科特（Cesar Ricaurte）和流亡的白俄羅斯民主活動家納塔莉婭·拉津娜（Natalya Radzina）等人所遭受的威脅與騷擾，以及對古巴博客作者揚尼·桑切斯 （Yoani Sanchez）等人通過限制其行動自由來施行非直接的審查，都繼續讓人們對表達與新聞自由的狀況感到寒心。我們呼籲所有政府保障新聞記者、博客作者和異議人士自由地、不遭報復地寫作和講話的能力，不再使用禁止旅行和其他非直接的審查形式來壓制人們行使這些普世權利。

在某些情況下，威脅新聞自由的不光是政府，還有那些犯罪團伙、恐怖主義者，或政治幫派。無論出於何種原因，當新聞記者們被恐嚇、攻擊、監禁或被害失蹤時，人們就開始自我審查，真相就被恐懼所取代，我們全體社會都會遭殃。絕不能允許聽任這種行徑逍遙法外的風氣在任何國家繼續存在下去。

今年，在中東（Middle East）、北非（North Africa）和其他地區，全世界不僅看到了這些危險，也看到了新聞自由為扶持創新、成功和穩定的民主政體帶來的希望。值此世界新聞自由日，我們要求所有政府均緊緊抓住這個機遇，認識到新聞自由所起的重要作用並且採取必要步驟來創建獨立新聞記者能夠自由地、沒有恐懼地工作的社會。


President Obama on World Press Freedom Day

03 May 2012
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
May 3, 2012
Statement by the President on World Press Freedom Day
On this World Press Freedom Day, the United States honors the role of a free press in creating sustainable democracies and prosperous societies. We pay special tribute to those journalists who have sacrificed their lives, freedom or personal well-being in pursuit of truth and justice.
Over sixty years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed the right of every person 「to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,」 that right remains in peril in far too many countries.
While this year has seen some positive developments, like the release of journalists along with hundreds of other political prisoners in Burma, arbitrary arrests and detentions of journalists continue across the globe. As we condemn recent detentions of journalists like Mazen Darwish, a leading proponent of free speech in Syria, and call for their immediate release, we must not forget others like blogger Dieu Cay, whose 2008 arrest coincided with a mass crackdown on citizen journalism in Vietnam, or journalist Dawit Isaak who has been held incommunicado by the Eritrean government for over a decade without formal charge or trial.
Threats and harassment, like that endured by Ecuadorian journalist Cesar Ricaurte and exiled Belarusian democratic activist Natalya Radzina, and indirect censorship, including through restrictions on freedom of movement like those imposed on Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez, continue to have a chilling effect on freedom of expression and the press. We call on all governments to protect the ability of journalists, bloggers, and dissidents to write and speak freely without retribution and to stop the use of travel bans and other indirect forms of censorship to suppress the exercise of these universal rights.
In some cases, it is not just governments threatening the freedom of the press. It is also criminal gangs, terrorists, or political factions. No matter the cause, when journalists are intimidated, attacked, imprisoned, or disappeared, individuals begin to self-censor, fear replaces truth, and all of our societies suffer.  A culture of impunity for such actions must not be allowed to persist in any country.
This year, across the Middle East, North Africa and beyond, the world witnessed not only these perils, but also the promise that a free press holds for fostering innovative, successful, and stable democracies. On this World Press Freedom Day, we call upon all governments to seize that promise by recognizing the vital role of a free press and taking the necessary steps to create societies in which independent journalists can operate freely and without fear.