DOES the name Guillermo Cano Isaza ring a bell' As the entire world commemorates the 2012 World Press Freedom Day today, it is imperative to go down memory lane to remember the journalist whose brutal assassination became one of the reasons for the celebration of Press Freedom yearly through out the world.Journalist Guillermo Cano born in Bogota (Colombia) on August 12, 1925, was assassinated December 17, 1986 at the entrance to the office of Es Espectator where he had served as the editor since the age of 27. The newspaper's building was destroyed in a bomb attack three years later. His career-long commitment to diversity of opinion and the circumstance of his death symbolized the price paid by journalists through out the world to violence. And this is the reason World Press Freedom Day has been celebrated.3 May every year, is a date which celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom, to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the discharge of their profession.3rd May, was proclaimed World Press Freedom Day by the United Nations General-Assembly in 1993, following the recommendation adopted at the twenty-sixth session of UNESCO's General Conference.However, UNESCO marks World Press Freedom Day by conferring the UNESCO/ Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize on a deserving individual, organisation or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence and promotion of Press Freedom anywhere in the world, especially when this has been achieved in the face of danger.The World Press Freedom Day is a day set aside for the world to voice out strong condemnations for dozens of countries where publications are censored, fined, suspended or even closed down; while journalists, editors and publishers are harassed, attacked, detained and even murdered.It therefore serves as an occasion to raise awareness of importance of freedom of the press and remind the Governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to 'freedom of expression' enshrined under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics.Hence, the Common Wealth Human Rights Initiatives (CWHRI) confirms that the right to information which is the press freedom is very important to the development and sustenance of any country in the world.Freedom of the press can positively impact on the social, economic, educational and cultural development of a nation. Thus, when there are many media of information, the citizenry will be better informed and this will bring about development. More so, press freedom leads to the exposure of corrupt public officials. The free flow of information enables journalists to expose corrupt individuals including the governments. This they do through their editorials, columns, news, features and many others.Apart from the conferment of UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize on a deserving individual or organization as earlier stated, UNESCO also marks World Press Freedom Day each year by bringing together media professionals, Press freedom Organisations and UN agencies to assess the state of press freedom for addressing the challenges.Each conference is centred around theme(s) related to press freedom including good governance media coverage of terrorism, impunity and the role of media in post-conflict countries.Interestingly, in this 2012 World Press Freedom Day, Eynulla Fatullayev, an Azerbaijani Journalist and human right activist is named the winner of the 2012 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize by UNESCO's Director-General, Irina Bokova.He was nominated for the award by an independent international jury.Eynulla Fatullayev, 35, is the former editor-in-chief and founder of the popular Independent Russian-Language Weekly, Realny Azerbaijan (Real Azerbaijan) and Azeri-language daily, Gundalik Azerbaijan (Azerbaijan Daily) newspapers. Through out his career, he has unfailingly and steadfastly spoken out for freedom of the press and freedom of expression. Imprisoned in 2007, he was released last year by presidential pardon on Azerbaijan's Republic Day, 26 may - an event that was welcomed by the international community. In July, 2011, Mr. Fatullayev founded the 'public opinion for human right' a non-government human rights organization.It is worthy to add that since its creation, the Press Freedom Prize has been awarded to sixteen laureates cutting across the entire globe.The UNESCO/ Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize was created in 1997 by the UNESCO's Executive Board. And it is awarded annually during the celebration of World Press Freedom Day on 3rd May to honour the work of an individual or an organisation defending or promoting freedom of expression anywhere in the world, especially if this action puts the individual's life at risk. Note that this award is post-mortem recognition of the selfless contributions of journalist Guillermo Cano for speaking out boldly in favour of press freedom through out his life until he was brutally silenced.As the World celebrates 2012 Press Freedom Day, it is imperative to remember numerous journalists in Nigeria who have been silenced in a similar way as Guillermo Cano was for standing up for free press. Though, the journalism profession is hazardous, journalists must not relent in their efforts to promote and sustain press freedom worldwide.Yunusa, wrote in from University of Maiduguri, Borno State.
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