WAN-Ifra is leading an unprecedented freedom mission to the UK following recent action by the British government.

Chief executive Vincent Peyrègne says it is “rather difficult for the UK to lecture Sri Lanka and others about their press freedom record, when its own actions result in such widespread international condemnation.”

The international delegation of concerned publishers and editors will seek a halt on what it says are continued attacks on press freedoms in the country. WAN-Ifra has previously conducted press freedom missions to Ethiopia, South Africa, Libya, Yemen, Tunisia, Mexico, Honduras, Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Myanmar, and many other countries, but this is the first such mission to the UK.
 


The announcement coincides with start of the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka this week, where press freedom will be high on the agenda.
 


Peyrègne says a press freedom mission to the UK is unprecedented “and we cannot underestimate our concern for what is happening.”

The mission is a direct response to recent actions widely seen as contrary to press freedom guarantees: government interference in the regulation of the independent press, through the Royal Charter and associated legislation, but will also include discussion of the criticism of The Guardian for its coverage of the revelations from former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
 


“We are concerned that these actions not only seriously damage the UK’s historic international reputation as a staunch defender of press freedom, but provides encouragement to non-democratic regimes to justify their own repressive actions,” he says.

The delegation will arrive in London in January and will include publishers and editors from five continents. It is expected to meet with government and opposition leaders, press industry figures, civil society organisations and others.
 In advance, “we will be talking with our members in the Commonwealth and beyond, to collect information on the impact the UK actions are having on their own situations,” says Peyrègne. “I think it will be important for government leaders to hear from them.”