18th General Meeting and Strategy Conference of International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) has been held in the capital Port-of-Spain of Trinidad & Tobago in the northeastern coast of Venezuela. IFEX increased its members from 88 to 103.
Delegates renewed the Council of IFEX in the congress which is symbolizing international collaboration of freedom of expression for 23 years where 170 representatives have attended from 70 different countries.
While the number of IFEX members who had been working for collaboration and solidarity between the members was increased from 8 to 13, bianet Media Monitoring Reporter, Erol Önderoğlu, has been elected as a member of IFEX Council.
Initiative against Thought Crime representative Berna Akkızal who introduced Museum of Crimes of Thought supported the council membership of bianet.
New regulation, new members
IFEX which had functioned under the umbrella of Canadian Journalist for Free Expression (CJFE) gained status as a “non-profit organization,” and so CJFE and IFEX were separated.
Moreover; the applications of 15 rights organizations from Pakistan , Belarus, Cambodia , Sri Lanka , Macedonia, Hungary , the UK, the U.S.A , Ireland, Costa Rica , Lebanon , Colombia, Trinidad & Tobago and Tunisia which requested to be the new members of IFEX were accepted.
New freedom of expression organizations newly joined IFEX are:
Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), Bites For All (B4A) from Pakistan, Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM), Free Media Movement (FMM) from Sri Lanka, Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU), Metamorphosis from Macedonia, Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), Children’s Rights International Network (CRIN) from Britain, Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR), Instituto de Prensa y Libertad de Expresión (IPLEX) from Costa Rica, Karisma Foundation from Colombia, March and Social Media Exchange (SMEX) from Lebanon, Publishers & Broadcasters Association (TTPBA) from Trinidad & Tobago and Civil Coalition for the Defense of Freedom of Expression (CCDLE) from Tunisia.
Canada-based IFEX is known as umbrella organization for international and fundamental organizations like Reporters without Borders (RSF), International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), International Press Institute (IPI), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Article 19. (BA/BD)
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