Global Crisis of Freedom of Expression - Special Rapporteur | Press Conference | United Nations

Описание: Deadly attacks on journalists in Gaza and double standards and discrimination against those advocating for Palestinian rights have created a global crisis of freedom of expression, Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression said.

Presenting her report to the General Assembly, Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, highlighted the widespread violations of freedom of expression arising from the conflict in Gaza, including the killing of journalists in Gaza, the crushing of protests worldwide against the carnage, the muzzling of Palestinian advocacy and the upsurge of disinformation, misinformation and hate speech online and offline.

Speaking to reporters in New York today (18 Oct), Khan said, “The target killings of journalists, arbitrary detention of dozens of them, the extensive destruction of press facilities and equipment in Gaza, the denial of access to international journalists, as you know, I think only one has been permitted to enter by Israel. The banning of Al Jazeera, the tightening of censorship within Israel and in the Occupied Territories, seem to indicate a strategy of the Israeli authorities to silence critical journalism and obstruct documentation of possible international crimes. We all know the deliberate killing of a journalist is a war crime, yet not a single killing of a journalist this past year, or for that matter, in previous years in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has ever been properly investigated, prosecuted or punished. Impunity is total.”

The Special Rapporteur also said, “Bans, including some blanket bans of pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been imposed in many European countries. Campus protests, as you know, in the United States earlier this year, were crushed harshly. Public display of Palestinian national symbols like the flag or the keffiyeh and certain slogans have been prohibited, even criminalized in some countries. Such blanket discriminatory prohibitions of speech, protest and slogans are inherently incompatible with international human rights because they fail to meet the test of necessity, proportionality and the principle of non-discrimination.”

Khan added, “We also see the silencing and sidelining of dissenting voices in academia and in the arts. Some of the best academic institutions in the world, as you know, have failed to ensure equal protection to all members of their academic communities, whether Jewish, Palestinian, Israeli, Arab, Muslim or otherwise, and intellectual intercourse has been diminished. Artistic freedom is being censored in many institutions in Western countries.”

She said, “While Arabs, Jewish Israelis and Palestinians are all targeted online, many companies, most companies, actually have shown a bias in their responses. As far as I could see, all of them were showing a bias in their responses, being more lenient regarding Israel and more restrictive about Palestinian expression. And from what I can see, it seems that inherently biased policies, opaque, inconsistent content moderation and heavy reliance on automated tools have led to this over restrictive, unbalanced content moderation.”

The Special Rapporteur also said, “Online and offline, international legal standards are being distorted and misinterpreted to conflate criticism of Israel and Zionism with anti-semitism. Anti-semitism is racial, the worst form of racial and religious hatred of Jews, and must be unequivocally condemned. But conflating protected speech which is political criticism with prohibited speech which is hate speech undermines the fight against anti-semitism, and it also chills freedom of expression.”

Khan added, “The point I want to make is equality is a fundamental principle of human rights, and States, companies and private institutions are obliged uphold that right to equality in the context of the right to freedom of expression of all persons, and any restriction, there are very clear guidelines laid down in international law as how they should be made and those guidelines are not being followed.”

The Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.