Former Commander of MINUSTAH speaks about his experiences at the Mission

The first event, on 29 May 2009, took place at the Military Villa of Rio de Janeiro at the premises of the Brazilian Army's Sergio Viera de Mello Training Centre for Peacekeeping Operations (CI Op Paz). Approximately 100 guests attended the event, most of them from the military. The United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Rio de Janeiro's Director represented the United Nations at the ceremony. He spoke about the importance of the peacekeeping missions, remembered those who lost their lives and shared with the audience the Secretary-General’s message for the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.

The next event, hosted by the local French Consulate and held on 1 June 2009, was the premiere of the Brazilian documentary “Ponto Forte” (“Strong Point”) about the work of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and the civilian-military cooperation in the Mission, directed by Mariana Reade. The date was symbolic as it marked the fifth anniversary of MINUSTAH, which was created on 1 June 2004. UNIC Rio de Janeiro's Director spoke about the significance of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers and the important contribution that Brazil was making to the UN and to world peace with its engagement in Haiti and in other peacekeeping missions around the world. After the screening of the 50-minute documentary, former Chief Commander of MINUSTAH, three-star general Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz, talked to the pubic about his experience as Commander of the Mission. The event, organized in partnership with the French Consulate in Rio and the non-governmental organization (NGO) Viva Rio, was attended by approximately 250 people, including seven Brazilian army generals, as well as diplomats from the Brazilian Foreign Affairs ministry, the Consuls of Peru, Chile and Ecuador, and other representatives of the consular corps in the city. All guests received a copy of the Secretary-General’s message for the Day.

The final event was held on 2 June 2009, where UNIC Rio de Janeiro supported the “Commemorative Panel on the International Day of Peacekeepers”, organized by the Military Club and the Military History and Geography Institute of Brazil. The panel discussed the Brazilian presence in the first generation of peacekeeping forces. All guests – approximately 60 persons, most of them from the military - received a copy of the Secretary-General’s message for the Day. UNIC Rio de Janeiro was represented by the Centre’s Library Assistant.

Journalists received hands-on training in the field

The second Brazilian training course for journalists covering peacekeeping missions and conflict areas took place on 11 to 15 May 2009 in Rio de Janeiro. This initiative was made possible by an ongoing partnership between the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Rio de Janeiro and the Brazilian Army's Sergio Viera de Mello Training Centre for Peacekeeping Operations (CI Op Paz), which was created in 2007 to train all Brazilian military personnel in peacekeeping missions in Haiti and elsewhere.

The intensive five-day course was attended by 19 journalists from a variety of Brazilian news organizations, such as the newspapers Folha de S. Paulo and Estado de S. Paulo, the weekly magazine Veja and the TV network Globo.

The agenda for the course included lectures on many subjects such as the United Nations System, human rights and humanitarian international law, Brazilian foreign policy and defense policy, the MINUSTAH mission in Haiti, the role of communication in peacekeeping operations and the evolution of UN peacekeeping strategy.

The course also provided two days of practical activities in the field, including security training in conflict situations, first aid training, identification of mines, use of GPS and hostage negotiation. Participants stayed on the premises of the CI Op Paz, where they worked as embedded journalists with a Brazilian Army unit serving in a fictional UN peacekeeping mission in a fictional country, Tudistan. While there the journalists were exposed to meticulously reconstructed risk situations such as mortar shelling and a car bomb suicide attack and were taught how to respond to these types of situations.

The Director of UNIC Rio de Janeiro gave a lecture on the UN structure and procedures, paying special attention to the area of peacekeeping and the work of the Security Council. Both the Director and the National Information Officer of UNIC Rio provided assistance to participants for the duration of the course.

Director of UNIC Rio (left) and the Minister of Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic

On 6 May 2009, the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Rio de Janeiro, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) office in Brazil and the School of Communication of the Federal University of Rio (ECO-UFRJ) organized a seminar entitled “What threatens press freedom? Who is threatened by the press?” as part of this year’s commemoration of World Press Freedom Day. During the event journalists, judges and lawyers had the opportunity to discuss issues such as judicial campaigns against news organizations, threats of censorship, and the rules of fair coverage. The audience of approximately 150 people was composed of students, faculty, journalists and lawyers.

The UNIC Rio Director welcomed the participants, remembering that press freedom is a basic human right, as stated in article XIX of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Copies of the Secretary-General's message for the day were distributed to the public.

The event was attended by the Minister of Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic, Franklin Martins, who highlighted the importance of thinking about the issue carefully. He recognized that press freedom is a strong demand of Brazilian society, pointing out that media outlets were nourished by credibility and, therefore, they ought to respect the border between public and private. “Who defines the limits of the press is society itself, particularly because the most severe critics of journalism are the public, who will not allow themselves to be manipulated”, said Martins.

The first theme discussed was “From censorship to injunction: press freedom at risk” by Julio César Pompeu, Law Professor of the Federal University of the State of Espírito Santo. He emphasized that “the right to information belongs to the people, even if at times this assertion is appropriated by media companies.” The journalist of the daily /Folha de/ /S. Paulo/, Elvira Lobato, took part in the discussion by describing the types of censorship that still existed, and said she was responding to over 100 law suits on account of her investigative reporting about the business activities of a prominent Brazilian evangelical church.

During the second round of debates, “The Right of Reply: the challenges posed on information in Brazil”, the Regional Republic Prosecutor, André Carvalho Ramos, stressed the importance of rationally and carefully considering the limits of the press, which from now on, following a recent High Court decision, could only be questioned in the ambit of civil and/or criminal laws. He also criticized the lack of interest of the media in relation to the decision, which, in his opinion, jeopardized the understanding of the political process.

Parallel to this, the journalist and counselor of the Internet Management Committee, Gustavo Gindre, said the overload of information on the Internet was as troublesome as the lack of information. He advocated the need for regulation in communication media which should not be labeled as censorship. He also added that the major difficulty was how to regulate democratically what was produced on the Internet, considering that it was a transnational communication media. Court of Appeals Judge Siro Darlan moderated the seminar and discussed how the Judiciary Power saw the issues discussed among the two panels.

O Diretor do UNIC-RIo, Giancarlo Summa, e o Diretor de Comunicação e Informação da Unesco, Guilherme Canela

No dia 6 de maio 2009, o Seminário "O que ameaça a liberdade de imprensa? E quem a imprensa ameaça?”, marcou as comemorações pelo Dia Mundial Liberdade de Imprensa 2009. Durante o evento profissionais de jornalismo e de direito tiveram a oportunidade de debater assuntos como censura e a questão do direito de resposta com um público estimado de 200 pessoas.

O Coordenador de Comunicação e Informação das Nações Unidas para Educação, Ciência e Cultura (UNESCO), Guilherme Canela, abriu o evento destacando que “mesmo em democracias mais avançadas, como o Brasil, não podemos deixar de discutir a liberdade de imprensa, já que nessas nações os problemas de repressão são ainda mais sofisticados”.

O evento contou com a presença do Ministro da Secretaria de Comunicação Social da Presidência da República, Franklin Martins, que destacou a importância da reflexão sobre o tema e afirmou que a liberdade de imprensa é uma exigência da própria sociedade brasileira e lembrou que os veículos de comunicação vivem da credibilidade e precisam respeitar os limites entre público e privado. “Quem define o limite da imprensa é a própria sociedade. Até porque o crítico mais severo do jornalismo é o
próprio público e ele não admite ser manipulado”, disse.

A primeira mesa de discussão "Da censura à liminar: a liberdade de imprensa atacada", contou a presença do professor de Direito da Universidade do Espirito Santo, Júlio César Pompeu. Ele enfatizou que “o direito à informação é do povo, ainda que muitas vezes esse discurso seja apropriado por meios de comunicação”. A jornalista da Folha de São Paulo, Elvira Lobato, participou lembrando dos tipos de censura que existem ainda hoje, destacando os mais de 100 processos que vem respondendo na justiça por conta de uma matéria sobre a Igreja Universal.

Durante a segunda rodada de debates, “Direito de resposta: os desafios da informação no Brasil”, o Procurador Regional da República, André de Carvalho Ramos, destacou a importância de ver com atenção e de forma racional os limites da imprensa, que agora só podem ser questionados de acordo com o direito civil. Ele criticou ainda a falta de interesse da midia no desenrrolar das ações do judiciário, o que prejudica o entendimento do processo político.

Paralelo a isso, o jornalista e conselheiro do Comitê Gestor da Internet, Gustavo Gindre, disse que o volume de informações da internet é tão problemático como a falta de informação. Ele defendeu ainda a necessidade de uma regulamentação dos meios de comunicação, o que não significaria censura. Ele acrescentou também que a maior dificuldade é pensar como controlar o que é produzido na internet, já que se trata de um meio de comunicação transnacional.

Esse encontro aconteceu no Fórum de Ciência e Cultura da UFRJ e foi organizado pelo Centro de Informação das Nações Unidas para o Brasil (UNIC Rio de Janeiro), a Organização das Nações Unidas para Educação, Ciência e Cultura (UNESCO), a Escola de Comunicação da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (ECO/UFRJ) e pelo Encontro Internacional de Comunicação – Sudeste (Intercom).