Rights
Human Rights/Free Speech/Media UNESCO denounces killing of media workers in Syria
25 Apr 2014, 08:00 am Print
New York, Apr 25 (JEN): The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom on Thursday urged respect for professional and citizen journalists after three media workers from a Lebanese television station were killed while reporting on clashes south of Damascus in Syria.
“I condemn the killing of Hamza Al-Hajj Hassan, Mohamed Muntich and Halim Alouh,” the Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, said in news release.
“There can be no justification for the targeting of media workers, the eyes and ears of civil society, whose work is essential in any attempt to overcome conflict and heal its wounds,” she urged.
The crew, which included a reporter, cameraman and technician, was covering clashes in the town of Al-Maaloula for Lebanon’s Al-Manar television on 14 April.
These deaths bring to five the number of killings in Syria condemned by the Director-General since January 2014. Their names will be included this year on UNESCO’s dedicated webpage for journalists killed in the line of duty.
Stop killing journalists. Photo: UNESCO
More Rights
- UN chief Guterres welcomes peace deal between DR Congo and Rwanda
- Bangladesh: Hindu woman allegedly raped in Comilla, five arrested
- July-August uprising: Owner of prominent bookstore in Bangladesh briefly detained, released later
- We are dismayed: India criticises Bangladeshi government over demolition of Hindu temple
- Gaza: More than 400 Palestinians killed around private aid hubs, UN rights office says
