Ulaanbaatar
RSF urges members to join its call for press freedom reform in Mongolia
Society
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ As the UN started conducting its Universal Periodic Review on human rights in Mongolia, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges member states to insist on the need for a media reform to better guarantee press freedom.
“RSF commends the positive steps taken by Mongolia in the past decades towards media liberalization, but its regulation still requests significant reforms guaranteeing editorial freedom for journalists and a better protection of their sources”, says Cédric Alviani, RSF East Asia Bureau Head.
Although Mongolia broadly respects the principles of liberty and media pluralism, its regulation still lacks basic legal protections for confidential sources and current defamation laws lead to journalistic self-censorship or harsh fines. In accordance with this review process, Human Rights Council member states contributing to the UPR cycle may choose to recommend that Mongolia adopt the reforms proposed by RSF.
In June, RSF called on the Mongolian political parties and the candidates to voice their commitment to support newsroom independence to tackle corruption.
Mongolia ranked 73rd out of 180 in the 2020 RSF
World Press Freedom Index.
source: rsf.org
