AG/RES. 1609 (XXIX-O/99)

INTER-AMERICAN DECLARATION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

(Resolution adopted at the first plenary session, held on June 7, 1999)

 

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN the report of the Permanent Council on "Assaults upon Freedom of the Press and Crimes against Journalists" (CP/CAJP-1488/99), presented pursuant to resolution AG/RES. 1550 (XXVIII-O/98);

BEARING IN MIND that Article 3.l of the Charter of the Organization of American States establishes as one of its principles that "the American States proclaim the fundamental rights of the individual without distinction as to race, nationality, creed, or sex";

RECALLING that Article IV of the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man and Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights provide that every person has the right to freedom of investigation, of opinion, and of the expression and dissemination of ideas, by any medium whatsoever;

BEARING IN MIND that the Heads of State and Government, at the Second Summit of the Americas, held in Santiago, Chile, in April 1998, expressed their support for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in this field, in particular for the recent appointment of a Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression;

CONSIDERING:

That at the same Summit of the Americas held in Santiago, the heads of states and government reaffirmed "the importance of guaranteeing freedom of expression, information, and opinion";

That the General Assembly, at its twenty-eighth regular session, through resolution AG/RES. 1550 (XXVIII-O/98), instructed the Permanent Council "to study the advisability of preparing an Inter-American Declaration on Freedom of Expression"; and

That the Permanent Council has completed the study mentioned in the preceding paragraph,

RESOLVES:

1. To instruct the Permanent Council to continue its work on the preparation of an inter-American Declaration on Freedom of Expression to be presented to a session of the General Assembly no later than the thirtieth regular session.

2. To urge the member states to continue to comply with resolution AG/RES. 1550 (XXVIII-O/98), particularly its operative paragraphs 2 and 4.