Director-General condemns killing of Ukrainian journalist Oles Buzina in Kiev

The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today denounced the killing of journalist and writer Oles Buzina in Kiev, Ukraine, and urged the authorities to conduct a swift and thorough investigation into his murder.

“I condemn the murder of Oles Buzina. Journalists must be able to practice their professional work safely and without fearing for their lives. Society as a whole suffers each time a journalist is silenced,” the Director-General said. “The authorities must spare no effort in shedding light into this killing.”

Oles Buzina was a journalist, writer and, briefly, the editor of the newspaper Segodnya. He was killed outside his home by unidentified assailants on 16 April.

The Director-General of UNESCO issues statements on the killing of media workers in line with Resolution 29 adopted by UNESCO Member States at the Organization’s General Conference of 1997, entitled “Condemnation of Violence against Journalists.” These statements are posted on a dedicated webpage, UNESCO condemns the killing of journalists.

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Media contact: Sylvie Coudray, s.coudray(at)unesco.org,  +33 (0)1 45 68 42 12

UNESCO is the United Nations agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. Article 1 of its Constitution requires the Organization to “further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.” To realize this the Organization is requested to “collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image…”