WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) commemorated World Press Freedom Day and addressed a number of other matters during its regular meeting on Monday, May 14, 2018, in Simon Bolivar Hall of the Americas at OAS headquarters, 17th Street and Constitution Avenue, N,W.
Speaking on the World Press Freedom Day agenda item, His Excellency Sidney Collie, Bahamas Ambassador to the United States and OAS, declared that Freedom of the Press “does not only mean freedom for the Press to praise a Government or an Opposition Party, but also freedom to criticize a government, sometimes in the most uncomplimentary manner.”
Ambassador Collie noted that the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights, and National Constitutions of all 34-member states of the OAS in one form or another “guarantee freedom of the press, freedom of movement, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and freedom of assembly.”
“The media is the first and last independent safeguard against suppression, dictatorship, intimidation, corruption and the stifling of democracy,” Ambassador Collie said.
He admonished all member-states to “resist, at all cost, the temptation to censor, muzzle or intimidate the Press,” adding that governments must understand that the agenda of journalists is primarily to investigate the facts and report them.
Ambassador Collie also spoke on another agenda item, “Presentation of the 2018 Work Plan of the Office of the Ombudsperson of the OAS.”
Mr. Chet Neymour, former Deputy Chief of Mission at the Bahamas Embassy, recently assumed the role of Ombudsperson of the OAS in an acting capacity.
Ambassador Collie said that Mr. Neymour “made an excellent presentation to the Permanent Council on his 13-point strategic plan for the upcoming year.”
