http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/index/ en U.S. Department of State 2012-05-16T18:44:45+00:00
This idea came to life while I spent three days at UNESCO's World Press Freedom Day in Tunisia, where I had the opportunity to listen to and engage with journalists, bloggers, and citizen activists from across the Middle East and North Africa and beyond.

I arrived May 3 in Tunis to deliver remarks at Tunisia's Presidential Palace to a crowd of more than 400 in attendance, and thousands more watching virtually. The audience welcomed video remarks from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who said "Voice by voice, text by text, Tunisians, Egyptians, Libyans, and many others have dared to say what they believe and stand up for their own rights. Many others have dared to report on what they see happening, even when their lives were at risk."

The conference was abuzz that day. It was not only the first day, but also the day on which a Tunisian court rendered its verdict in an extremely sensitive case on freedom of expression. The verdict fined Nabil Karoui of NESSMA TV for showing the animated film Persepolis, which depicted religious imagery. The conviction raises serious concerns about tolerance and freedom of expression in the new Tunisia.

From what I heard, it is clear that Tunisia is at an important juncture as it attempts to re-establish freedom of expression and respect for a diversity of views after many years when the state had a monopoly on all expression. While freedom of expression remains a cornerstone of democracy that Tunisia's new government should seek to vigilantly protect, we recognize that Tunisia has made significant advances in this area since its January 2011 revolution. We are pleased that the defendant has the right to appeal. We are also pleased that Tunisian journalists were able to speak candidly -- and in public -- about their hopes, dreams, and disappointments. I was interviewed in public in the lobby of a hotel by a Tunisian correspondent from a local TV channel -- something that would have been impossible during the Ben Ali regime.

I also heard from journalists from Algeria, Morocco, Iraq, Egypt, the Palestinian Territories, Libya, and Bahrain. While each country has its own personality and challenges, there is a universal desire. That is the desire to be able to speak out: openly and truthfully without peril or consequences.

I headed a delegation of six -- including three diplomats from the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. We were told repeatedly by UN officials and others attending the conference how important it was that the United States not only showed up but also engaged. "It shows those who are on the frontlines of the battle to keep speech free that the U.S. cares in a real way."

A highlight was a session with four special rapporteurs on freedom of expression, authorized respectively by the UN, the Organization of American States (OAS), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the African Union (AU). They discussed the challenges each region faced, and those that are universal. It is important to thread human rights, freedom of expression, and the power of multilateralism together. By bringing special rapporteurs from various regions into one room to share and discuss their issues with civil society, they were able to find common ground.

A troubling commonality: Violence against journalists is on the rise across the globe. "Because the internet is so powerful," Frank La Rue, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, told a packed audience. "Politicians are more scared and violence against journalists is on the rise. There is a progressive criminalization of speech. We cannot allow this."

In today's world restricting the media means not just stopping the presses, but threatening the journalist.]]> http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/freedom_of_expression_wpfd/ 2012-05-10T01:58:56+00:00
I was thrilled to co-host our inaugural Embassy Jazz Day, Bridging Cultures Crossing Divides, with the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History this past weekend. This occasion provided the opportunity to mark the role jazz plays in creating linkages between peoples, communities, and cultures while also enabling the next generation of jazz innovators to perform including Howard University's Afro Blue and Lena Seikaly. This event also represented a first: a partnership between the Bureau of International Organizations Affairs and the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.

Jazz historian, NPR producer, and event moderator, Walter Watson, asked panelists to reflect upon the music genre's influence upon the world. One of the Smithsonian's jazz experts John Hasse relayed several first hand stories of the dramatic impact that jazz has played throughout the world. In South Africa, where Hasse spoke to a group of young musicians and then played Louis Armstrong for them, he was told the music changed their lives. And in Poland where a young boy, now a jazz musician, clung to jazz as an outlet for expression under the repression of the Iron Curtain. He defied silence by listening to black market recordings during the Cold War. And finally, Hasse spoke of the remarkable story of the son of a Turkish diplomat in the 1930s who used jazz to integrate a racially divided city by holding private jam sessions at the Turkish Embassy and inviting black and white musicians to jam together.

The genesis of Embassy Jazz Day began more 50 years ago after the Department of State launched jazz diplomacy, featuring international tours by American musical legends such as Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie introducing the world to jazz. It fueled an explosion in interest in American music and culture.

Now jazz has reached new diplomatic heights, punctuated by UNESCO's appointment of music legend Herbie Hancock as a Goodwill Ambassador. Hancock helped to garner support for UNESCO's International Jazz Day, which will be marked with celebrations and musical events in many corners of the globe on April 30.

For more information about the Smithsonian's Jazz Appreciation Month, please visit www.smithsonianjazz.org. For more information about International Jazz Day, including upcoming celebrations in Paris, New York, and New Orleans, please visit UNESCO's Jazz Day webpage. And, you can view an archived version of Sunday's event here.]]> http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/all_that_jazz/ 2012-04-25T20:14:07+00:00 Syria. Syrian civilians and international journalists risk their lives daily to inform the world of the horrendous scale of slaughter and suffering, and the Commission of Inquiry launched by the UN Human Rights Council last August concluded that the Syrian government forces have perpetrated crimes against humanity. No one can deny that Bashar al-Assad and his regime are waging a brutal campaign of slaughter, bombardment, torture, and arrest that already has murdered thousands of women, men, and children, with more killed each day.

As I said earlier today, the Syrian government must immediately halt its attacks on civilians, withdraw its military and security forces to their barracks, and release the many civilians, including journalists, whom it has detained arbitrarily. The government must grant humanitarian access to the country without delay, allowing much-needed food, water, and medical assistance to be delivered to the Syrian people. All states should heed the call of conscience, and halt any financial or other support to the Syrian government, including arms or materiel transfers, and must back UN-Arab League Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan.

The way forward is clear. In the coming weeks, the UN Human Rights Council must extend the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry, so that it can continue to investigate and document the gross human rights violations being committed in Syria, providing evidence to support accountability for the senior Syrian officials who have planned and perpetrated these atrocities. Finally, Assad must go. There must be a Syrian-led democratic political transition that meets the long-suppressed aspirations of the Syrian people.

The international community supports these essential steps as the solution to the violence in Syria. They are at the core of the plan the Arab League has put forward. They were further endorsed in Tunis last week by the Group of Friends of Syria. They were backed by an overwhelming majority in the General Assembly resolution adopted on February 16, 2012. And although thirteen members of the Security Council supported these steps earlier this month, indefensible vetoes by two permanent members gave Assad cover to accelerate his war on the Syrian people.

Syrian women, men, and children face murder and starvation at the hands of their own government, simply because they demand respect for the universal human rights the Human Rights Council exists to protect and advance. Let us demonstrate today that the world stands united with the people of Syria, for it is they who represent their country's future, just as Assad and his regime represent its past.]]> http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/unhrc_syria_brimmer/ 2012-02-28T17:51:11+00:00