Reporters without Borders going overboard
Newly appointed Permanent Delegate of Sri Lanka to UNESCO, Ambassador
Dr Dayan Jayatilleka participating in the International Symposium on the
Freedom of Expression at UNESCO in Paris questioned the right of
Reporters without Borders (RSF) to stand in judgment of legitimate
member states.
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Dr Dayan Jayatilleka |
The Secretary General of Reporters without Borders, Jean-Francois
Julliard, a panelist at the symposium, in his remarks earlier noted
several countries and their leaders, as being infringers of the freedom
of expression, which has also been highlighted in the material displayed
and referred to by the organisation.
Ambassador Jayatilleka cautioned against a discourse in which there
was an implicit moral food chain where the states of the Global South
were at the bottom, with those of the Global North above and Non
Governmental Organizations of the North super imposed on top of the
chain.
Ambassador Jayatilleka pointed out that although the RSF put up on a
screen a rogues gallery as it were of leaders such as Fidel Castro as
enemies of the freedom of expression, it was indeed courageous
individuals like Fidel who gave shelter and voice to the voiceless
during the long dark night of dictatorships in Latin America, thereby
contributing to the freedom that the entire region enjoys today.
Recently RSF called for a boycott of the Galle Literary Festival in
Sri Lanka, citing several factors as being against the freedom of
expression, but were thwarted in their attempt by social media and human
rights activists within the country who contradicted the basis for the
boycott call. |
