الاتحاد الكاثوليكي العالمي للصحافة- لبنان اوسيب – لبنان
Antelias, November 26th, 2001
The World Forum of Professionals in the Secular and Religious Media claimed the officials in the State to answer this question: “what does the Lebanese youth want today?” It supported in a statement issued today the freedom of opinion in Lebanon and discussed national and worldwide media issues. The statement included the following:
1. The issue of Saint Joseph University: – The continuous action of students in a series of Lebanese universities asserts the rupture of dialogue between the State and the Lebanese youth. The Forum wishes that officials in the State deal with the students in order to resolve their problems and get away from chocking resolutions which harm the students and the nation. It is necessary that officials answer this question: what does the Lebanese youth want today?
– The entrance of Saint Joseph University, one of the most noble and important academic institutions in the Middle East, harms the official and academic reputation of Lebanon. Lebanon looks forward to be the University of Arab students, but this role can not be accomplished in the cadre of intellectual or political pressures, or a packing of programs and approaches, especially that professors at the Lebanese University have already been arrested, act which harms the freedom of thinking and education.
– The attack of students by pretext of holding specific signs is the perfect attack of the freedom of opinion and expression guaranteed by the Lebanese Constitution and international legislatives. This deforms the official speech which daily asserts its respect of the freedom of opinion and expression.
– The Forum observed as well a series of positions expressing their concern about public freedoms, and positions of ministers and deputies who expressed their dissatisfaction from the entrance of Saint Joseph University and committed themselves to pursue the subject. These positions, added to the role of the mass media in supporting public freedoms which have the great favor of observing the powers and directing their policy, are an act deep inside the democratic regimes.
2. Media issues:
– The Forum claims to rapidly suit the reporter Habib Youness and the publicist Antoine Bassil. It remarks that the organization of “messengers without limits”, in its regular report on press freedoms in the world, considered that Youness and Bassil are two retained reporters “for their opinion or in the cadre of practicing the profession”. This action harms the Lebanese reputation, although suiting rapidly these reporters takes off the obscurity of this subject.
– The Forum claims the Lebanese powers to rapidly reveal the aggression conditions against the reporters Joseph Solar at Sahl Alma, on the 11 – 12 – 2001, and Mounzer Al Maribi on the 10 – 31 – 2001 at Akkar.
– The Forum expressed its deep sadness about the death of seven reporters at Afghanistan during their profession aiming to transmit the free and true news. In the cadre of this subject, the Forum wishes that the Lebanese mass media deals with the Afghan event in its human dimensions and not the military ones, because at the end it represents a tragedy of a people who suffers from killing, displacement, and general destruction.
Translated by: Joyce Tary
