Bogotá, May 3 (EFE) .- Reporters, newspaper unions and NGOs today issued two separate calls to respect press freedom in the digital age and called for fairer laws and protections for the exercise of journalism in the World Day of Freedom Press.
Press freedom is more important than ever in the digital age, where he serves as the basis for democracy and respect for human rights, claimed the heads of the UN.
The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, the body's high commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, and the director general of Unesco, Irina Bokova, joined their voices to ask also that protect the integrity and security of digital reporters.
In this regard, they recalled that in the last decade more than 500 journalists were killed and that "only in 2010 there were 60 murders of journalists in the world."
In turn, the director of the Unesco Regional Office, American Andrew Radolf, said "the issue of journalist safety concerns not only the mainstream media, but community radio and local media."
"Governments will always have to accept that the press is there to do a job to inform, not to praise them" as well as efforts against impunity, added Radolf.
Also the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) warned of the increasing "sophistication" in cyber censorship practices used by some countries.
On the subject, said that perhaps the most effective technique is "access denied" the Cuban regime, responsible, according to the organization, that "the Internet infrastructure on the island is severely restricted to a small fraction of the population."
The committee said that "known bloggers like Sanchez Yoani have been discredited in a medium accessible to all Cubans as state television."
About this censorship, the same Sánchez wrote today in his Twitter account: "On the day of press freedom, I can only hope that in future at least part of it is installed in my country."
Meanwhile, in Havana, a panel in which journalists and "friends of Cuba" denounced "the mechanisms of the major mass media to hide and distort the reality" of Cuba, where all means are official.
However, the situation is more delicate in Mexico, where today the National Front of Journalists for Free Expression (Frenap) reported that the four years that President Felipe Calderón as the country has been "the worst in recent history" for the Mexican press, with 41 journalists killed and 9 missing.
Frenap noted that in Mexico there is a serious setback "in the subject and, in fact, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) reported that from 2000 to 2011 added 68 journalists murdered in the country and 13 missing.
Also in Venezuela, the situation of press freedom has become more complicated, where the organization Public Space warned of increased censorship in 52 cases during 2010, representing 32.7% of the 159 counted as attacks on freedom speech last year.
"There is a shift by the state. There has been aggressive speech that lies to the media as enemies, attacks on journalists by their followers, to go straight into the action with legal rules and sanctions against media critics "said the director of Public Space, Carlos Correa.
In Colombia, meanwhile, hundreds of journalists gathered in cities across the country to demand government protection and guarantees for the exercise of their work.
According to the Colombian Federation of Journalists (FECOLPER) so far in 2011 there have been 56 assaults on journalists, of which 23 are threatened, 2 attempted murders, 10 obstructions to journalism and 8 physical attacks.
In neighboring Ecuador, more than one hundred workers of the information is expressed in two concentrations in Quito to reject criticism of the government of President Rafael Correa to the private media.
"Freedom of expression is under discussion and at risk in this country because the Government has an ideological position, absolute, with respect to the media, does not admit that democracy has to be done with freedom of expression and independent media," said Alfonso Espinosa de los Monteros, vice president of news television channel Ecuavisa.
Also, the National Association of Journalists of Peru reported that so far this year there have been 82 attacks against journalists, most of which were physical assaults and verbal abuse.
Meanwhile, in Bolivia the total ban on campaign law requires candidates for top judges in the country, affecting the press, Internet and even the use of phones, has generated controversy among the opposition, associations Journalists and President Evo Morales.
By law, no person or institution may make "campaign or propaganda for or against any candidate or any, of any media, including Internet and text messages massive cell phone, and will abide no criminal consequences .
In this regard, the National Press Association, which represents owners and managers of Bolivian newspapers said today that "all censorship to freedom of expression is a blow to democracy."
Chilean reporters, meanwhile, were more thoughtful in their comments and noted that the emergence of new technologies may end street journalism, which is what allows you to take the pulse of society.
In turn, their peers Paraguayans celebrated the day with the opening of a library in honor of journalist Santiago Leguizamon (murdered in 1991) at the Museum of the city of Pedro Juan Caballero, northeast of Asunción.
In Panama, the journalists called for a redoubling of efforts "to maintain an observation point and demanding about, above all, the government proceeding binding on the freedoms of expression and information."
Finally, the Guatemalan journalists regretted that no state institutions to investigate the attacks and threats against victims and called for unity of the union to defend press freedom in the country.
