UN Freedom of Information Conference 1948:
What Conference Achieved
By Carlos P. Romulo
Just after he had signed the Final Act of the United Nations Conference on Freedom of Information, the Conference President, General Carlos P. Romulo of the Philippines declared that this document might come to be regarded in the future as the "Magna Carta" of freedom in the field of thought and expression.
The United Nations may justly take pride in the conduct and achievements of the Conference on Freedom of Information.
In the midst of a political crisis so grave as to cause the fear of a third world war, the representatives of sixty nations met in peaceful conclave in Geneva. They spent nearly one month in earnest deliberation, marked on the one hand by a frank interchange of views and on the other by remarkable goodwill and a general desire to come to agreement through compromise.
As a result of their labours, a practical programme of freedom of information on the international plane has been formulated, providing for positive guarantees to the right of all men in all countries to receive and, impart news and opinion, and at the same time defining the responsibility of the press to society and to the cause of international peace. This has been done, for the first time in history, with the participation and sanction of Governments, in response to a universal desire. The Conference, working on an important segment of the United Nations programme for the protection and advancement of human rights and fundamental freedoms, has thus dramatically demonstrated the efficacy of negotiation as a means for the solution of international problems.
The work of the Conference cannot as yet be fully assessed. Three draft conventions and more than two score resolutions were approved with the aim of ensuring the free flow of information within nations and across their boundaries. The General Assembly's resolution denouncing incitement to war was endorsed, and the right of governments to correct false or distorted reports recognized. A continuing machinery was provided, with therecommendation that the Sub-Commissionon Freedom of Information and of the press be allowed to continue its work for three more years, in order to help put into effect the agreement made and also to explore the possibilities for the further extension of freedom of information, rightly described as the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is dedicated.
The validity of international agreements, however, depends in the final analysis upon the sincerity of the signatory nations and their determination to make them work.
Herein lies one of the most hopeful aspects of the Conference on Freedom of Information. In this Conference, the peoples of the world, through their Governments and the representatives of their various media of mass communication, have solemnly pledged themselves to translate into reality the concept of maximum freedom of information for all men and all nations, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion. Considering the earnestness and goodwill with which the pledge was made, it is reasonable to expect that every effort will be made to carry it out.
|
This article was previously published in United Nations Bulletin Vol. iv No. 9, 1 May 1948. (precursor to UN Chronicle)
Carlos P. Romulo was President of the Conference on Freedom of Information (1948),
Chief of the Philippine Mission to the United Nations (1945-54),
President of the Fourth General Assembly of the United Nations (1949-50).
|
|
