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The Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, David Kaye, said that actions by the current administration have an impact "that is extremely negative on a free press, and freedom of expression generally in the United States.” UNIFEED
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STORY: UN / FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
TRT: 03:08
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 25 OCTOBER 2017, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

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Shotlist

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Tilt up, exterior United Nations headquarters

25 OCTOBER 2017, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, presser
3. SOUNDBITE (English) David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression:
“I think we see a very, a near-term and a long-term impact that is extremely negative on a free press, and freedom of expression generally in the United States.”
4. Wide shot, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression:
“I think if you look across the range of what this administration is doing, whether it is sort of changing the culture of how we think about the media, and how we think about information, it has a long-term negative impact on respect for the media, which, god forbid, it could lead to attacks on the media, you know physical attacks, which we’ve seen in the context of rallies, you know, that Trump has held. But I think there is a long-term detrimental impact on respect for, here, first amendment values, which are also human rights, freedom of expression values, and I am really deeply concerned about that.”
6. Wide shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression:
“You know, China has never ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, but it’s bound by article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Right, certainly as a matter of customary international law, and I think that in terms of the direction that it provides to the media, its dominance of state media, and its censorship, that is very, very deep.”
8. Med shot, journalists
9. SOUNDBITE (English) David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression:
“We urge the government of Iran to stop harassing the employees and the families of employees of the BBC Persian service as well as other journalists. And I would say it’s a very, very serious concern to us, in part because it’s reflective of an overall pattern, but also because it’s creating direct harm against individuals who are only trying to do their job, which is a job that is protected by international human rights law.”
10. Wide shot, journalists
11. SOUNDBITE (English) David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression:
“It’s clear that the pressure on journalists is intense, and the space for any kind of, not just opposition, but any kind of reporting, is extremely limiting in Egypt today. I think, you know, individuals who we’ve talked to from Egypt think that it’s much worse than it was under Mubarak.”
12. Med shot, journalists
13. SOUNDBITE (English) David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression:
“There’s been pressure on protests, on opposition politicians merely for their dissent, so, across the board in Venezuela we’ve seen really serious violations of freedom of opinion and expression, and I think that one of the obvious things that we’ve see from the repression in Venezuela is that it doesn’t solve the political problems for the government.”
14. Wide shot, end of presser

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Storyline

The Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, David Kaye, today (25 Oct) said there is “a near-term and a long-term impact that is extremely negative on a free press, and freedom of expression generally in the United States.”

Kaye said the actions of the current administration have “a long-term negative impact on respect for the media,” which could lead to “physical attacks” on members of the media, something that has already been seen during President Donald Trump’s political rallies.

He expressed concern that there is also “a long-term detrimental impact on respect for, here, first amendment values, which are also human rights, freedom of expression values.”

Turning to China, the Special Rapporteur said there is concern about the direction that the government provides to the media, as well as “its dominance of state media, and its censorship, that is very, very deep.”

Kaye urged the government of Iran “to stop harassing the employees and the families of employees of the BBC Persian service as well as other journalists.”

He said this was “reflective of an overall pattern, but also because it’s creating direct harm against individuals who are only trying to do their job, which is a job that is protected by international human rights law.”

On Egypt, the Special rapporteur said it was “clear that the pressure on journalists is intense, and the space for any kind of, not just opposition, but any kind of reporting, is extremely limiting,” adding that the situation is now “much worse” than it was under former President Hosni Mubarak.

On Venezuela, Kaye said “there’s been pressure on protests, on opposition politicians merely for their dissent, so, across the board in Venezuela we’ve seen really serious violations of freedom of opinion and expression, and I think that one of the obvious things that we’ve see from the repression in Venezuela is that it doesn’t solve the political problems for the government.”

Kaye is clinical professor of law at the University of California, Irvine, School of Law.

A Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme. This position is honorary and the expert is not United Nations staff nor paid for his/her work.

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