<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.17080" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#810081 size=6><STRONG>Communication is Your
Right</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV>Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads: "Everyone
has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom
to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." On
December 10, 1948 the United Nations adopted The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. Today in 2010, more than 60 years later, we are dealing with entire
groups of people who don't have access to factual news and information in order
to better their lives, community and country and make a positive impact in this
world. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Corporate media censors people's opinions and appeases sponsors rather than
disseminating information in the public interest. We ask the United Nations to
consider the destructive consequences that corporate media consolidation has on
universal communication and the solutions to every problem the UN seeks to solve
in their Millennium Development Goals. It is crucial that people are empowered
to fully express themselves through all communication mediums. Right now most
mainstream sources of news and information have the sole purpose of entertaining
and advertising to the public. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Our communication mediums are vital and precious forums of dialogue that
everyone needs to access, in order to serve the public interest. We also see the
control of repressive governments who do not allow journalists the freedom to
investigate and report as equally destructive to human communication. In Iran,
Burma, North Korea and many other countries, repressive regimes do not allow
journalists to freely investigate and report human rights abuses. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The full extent of the abuses are unknown due to a stranglehold on
journalism. The people of the world need universal, uncensored access to the
internet as well as the liberty to impart information through it. According to
Internet World Stats only 26.6% of the world's population use the internet.
According to Internet for Everyone, in America “only 35% of homes with less than
$50,000 in annual income have a high-speed internet connection. Moreover, nearly
20 million Americans live in areas that are not served by a single broadband
provider; tens of millions more live in places where there is just a single
provider of high-speed Internet service.” We, the undersigned and under-heard,
petition the United Nations to take a closer look at Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and critically analyze the state of communication in
our world. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We hope that the United Nations will re-evaluate their commitment to and
advocate for the importance of Article 19, so that people everywhere can truly
exercise their right to have their voices resonate throughout the world. for
more info: <A
href="http://www.communicationisyourright.org">http://www.communicationisyourright.org</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Bazlu<BR>_______________________<BR>AHM. Bazlur Rahman-S21BR<BR>Chief
Executive Officer<BR>Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication
(BNNRC)<BR>[NGO in Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social
Council]<BR>& <BR>Head, Community Radio Academy <BR> <BR>House: 13/1,
Road: 2, Shaymoli, Dhaka-1207 <BR>Post Box: 5095, Dhaka 1205
Bangladesh<BR> <BR>Phone: 88-02-9130750, 88-02-9138501<BR>Cell: 01711881647
Fax: 88-02-9138501-105<BR>E-mail: <A
href="mailto:ceo@bnnrc.net">ceo@bnnrc.net</A> <A
href="http://www.bnnrc.net">www.bnnrc.net</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML>