Miami, March 17, 2009. IAPA members voted unanimously at their Midyear meeting to recognize the 15th anniversary of the Declaration of Chapultepec -- standard bearer of press freedom and freedom of expression -- by committing to continue to uphold its principles, declaring its values universal and mandatory in the constitutions of free nations, celebrating Declaration of Chapultepec Month in March and Press Freedom Day on May 3 and informing and educating the public on how to identify respect for and breaches of its 10 principles.
The ten principles of press freedom were drafted on March 11, 1994 by 100 academics, publishers, constitutionalists, government officials and journalists from the Americas in Mexico at the castle of the same name. Since then, they have become the hemisphere standard for freedom of expression.
During the same meeting, the 2009 Chapultepec Grand Prize was awarded to Asdrubal Aguiar. A professor of international public law and international criminal law, Dr. Aguiar has served as a justice of the Inter-American Human Rights Court and as ambassador, foreign minister and interim president of his native Venezuela. He is the author of numerous books and articles on his specialty as well as an op-ed contributor to various Venezuelan newspapers.
Chapultepec Committee Chairman Bartolomé Mitre lauded Aguiar's career defense of human rights: ""Whether practicing as a lawyer, scholar, university professor, mayor, government official, justice of the Interamerican Court, author, columnist, teacher, consultant to presidents, member of international think tanks --- whenever Asdrubal takes the floor his words and actions reflect the basic message of Chapuletepec", he stated.
The Chapultepec Grand Prize is an annual distinction that seeks to recognize efforts made by individuals or entities -- not necessarily connected to the news media -- who have made significant contributions in the defense of the declaration’s principles and freedom of the press.To learn more about the IAPA's Declaration of Chapultepec visit: www.declaraciondechapultepec.org