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The Director General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today denounced the murder of Pakistani journalist Haji Abdul Razzak. The body of the journalist, who had been reported missing since 24 March, was found in Karachi on 21 August.

            “I deplore the murder of Haji Abdul Razzak,” declared the Director-General. “I call on the Pakistani authorities to do all in their power to investigate this killing thoroughly and shed light on this heinous crime.”

            Haji Abdul Razzak, 35, was a reporter for the Urdu-language newspaper Daily Tawar. He was last seen in Liyari, in Karachi. According to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), his mutilated body was found in Surjani, also in Karachi.

            A full list of journalists whose killing has been condemned by UNESCO is available on line.

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            Media contact: Sylvie Coudray, +33 (0)1 45 68 42 12

UNESCO is the United Nations agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. Article 1 of its Constitution requires the Organization to “further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.” To realize this the Organization is requested to “collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image…”