UNESCO chief condemns murder of Philippine journalist

The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today condemned this week’s murder of Nelson Nadura, a Philippine radio journalist, noting he is the fifth journalist to have been killed in the Philippines this year.

UNESCO’s Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura, in a statement issued from the organization’s headquarters in Paris, said he welcomed the pledge by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to ensure that such attacks on journalists do not go unpublished.

Mr. Nadura, a journalist with Radio DYME in Masbate City, in the central Philippines, was murdered on Wednesday. He hosted a morning talk show on politics and current affairs at the radio station. More than 40 journalists have been murdered in the Philippines since the Southeast Asian country returned to democracy in 1986.

Mr. Matsuura said “it is crucial that action be taken to deter such crimes, which strike at democracy and governance. I hope that the President’s resolve will help provide safe working conditions to the profession, which has paid all too heavy a tribute to the fundamental human right of freedom of expression.”

In 1997, UNESCO’s Member States adopted a resolution calling for the perpetrators of crimes against journalists to be brought to justice.