[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 17 (Monday, May 5, 2008)]
[Pages 636-637]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on World Press Freedom Day

May 1, 2008

    May 3 marks World Press Freedom Day. Just and open societies protect 
and rely on the freedom of the press. That freedom is enshrined in the 
first amendment to the

[[Page 637]]

United States Constitution, because freedom of speech is integral to a 
free society.

    Brutal regimes and others who seek to stifle liberty often do so by 
closing down private newspapers and radio and television stations. They 
kidnap, arbitrarily jail, and beat journalists. Some journalists have 
been taken from their families for years, and others have been killed 
for speaking out. Many were killed by terrorists, extremists, and 
insurgents who seek to deny people even basic access to information as 
well as the right to free speech.

    Journalists should be able to report without fear of persecution. In 
countries such as Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Libya, 
North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe, repressive laws severely 
restrict freedom of speech, and those who attempt to report are often 
imprisoned. In 2007, for the ninth consecutive year, China remained the 
world's top jailer of journalists, followed by Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, and 
Azerbaijan.

    The United States condemns the harassment, physical intimidation, 
persecution, and other abuse that journalists, including bloggers and 
Internet reporters, have faced in China, Cuba, Egypt, Tunisia, 
Venezuela, and Vietnam, as well as the unsolved murders of journalists 
in Belarus, Lebanon, and Russia. We call on all governments to guarantee 
the inalienable rights of their people, including, consistent with 
article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 
the right to freedom of speech and the press.

    America stands with those who struggle for their liberty, including 
those in the press who continue their work in spite of risks. During 
fiscal year 2007, the United States provided $78 million in 
approximately 40 countries to promote media freedom and freedom of 
information. As President, I have met with many journalists and editors 
who are struggling against forces that seek to suppress media freedom. 
We salute these courageous individuals, and we recognize the importance 
of the right to a free press in spreading freedom around the world.