Topic: Freedom of the Press
Country: United Kingdom
Delegate Name: Ben McGowan
School: Cranbrook Kingswood
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All United Kingdom position papers GLIMUN 2009 committees
As stated in the Article 19 of the United Nation’s declarations of Human Rights, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” The United Kingdom does not fully back this definition. But rather is in accordance with article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The safety and security of its people is the United Kingdom’s first priority. Therefore, the delegation of The United Kingdom believes it is its responsibility to protect confidential information and documents from being leaked to the press and exposed to sources that could use it to attack and hurt the citizens of the United Kingdom.
The delegation of the United Kingdom believes that the safety of fellow United Nation member’s citizens should be their first responsibility. Therefore the Delegation of the United Kingdom urges the United Nation to amend Article 19 in order to give Nations the right to protect information that could inflict harm on innocent citizens. The United Kingdom secured this right for its government by passing the Official Secrets Act 1989. The United Kingdom has had to exercise this right in order to protect its government and people in the trail of Clive Ponting. The delegation of the United Kingdom hopes UNESCO would be willing to work with our delegation to educate others on the importance of protecting confidential information. The delegation of the United Kingdom hopes to establish a better policy on freedom of the press that would give government the power to protect information from reaching dangerous hands.
