Press freedom organisation Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has accused UNESCO of "grovelling" to authoritarian governments by dropping sponsorship of a free speech day on Wednesday.
Paris-based RSF organised its second Online Free Expression Day on which it published a list of "Internet Enemies" — governments that imprison Internet users.
RSF accused the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) of yielding to pressure from some of the 15 member countries on the list by dropping its backing for the event.
"Unfortunately, it seems we have gone back 20 years, to the time when authoritarian regimes called the shots at UNESCO headquarters in Paris," RSF said. "UNESCO's grovelling shows the importance of Online Free Expression Day and the need to protest against governments that censor."
UNESCO responded by saying it supported freedom of expression on the Internet but felt compelled to withdraw patronage following the publication of information by RSF which did not follow the arrangements agreed upon between the two organisations concerning the event.
UNESCO said in a statement, "In its communications on the day, RSF published material concerning a number of UNESCO’s Member States, which UNESCO, had not been informed of and could not endorse. Furthermore, UNESCO’s logo was placed in such a way as to indicate the Organization’s support of the information presented."
“We are not fooled,” RSF reacted. “Several governments on the updated list of 15 ‘Internet Enemies’ put direct pressure on the office of the UNESCO director-general, and deputy director-general Marcio Barbosa caved in. UNESCO’s reputation has not been enhanced by this episode. It has behaved with great cowardice at a time when the governments that got it to stage a U-turn continue to imprison dozens of Internet users,” the organisation said in response.
UNESCO, on its part, countered that it had a clear mandate to defend the free flow of information and freedom of expression. "It does so using the channels and fora of a UN intergovernmental organisation, respecting the sovereignty of its 193 member states," the UN agency said.
RSF immediately informed the French foreign ministry of UNESCO’s decision as it was at the suggestion of the French National Commission to UNESCO that this UN body granted its patronage for this event. The commission is an offshoot of the foreign ministry. RSF is of the view that the French government cannot remain silent in the face of the rebuff it has received as a result of pressure from authoritarian governments.
RSF has issued an updated list of “Internet Enemies” as part of its actions to mark this day. There are 15 countries on the list—Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. Sixty-two cyber-dissidents are currently imprisoned worldwide, while more than 2,600 websites, blogs or discussions forums were closed or made inaccessible in 2007.
