Russian officials have repeatedly made public and diplomatic calls for the leadership of the UNESCO Secretariat to condemn the brutal murder of Russian journalist Darya Dugina as a result of the act of terror committed by subversives of the Kiev regime on August 20. However, their calls have remained unanswered since the time of the tragedy.
Meanwhile, in accordance with the mandate formulated by the UNESCO member-states in Resolution 29 "Condemnation of violence against journalists" at their 29th General Conference on November 12, 1997, the agency invites "the Director-General to condemn assassination and any physical violence against journalists as a crime against society..." We note that UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay publicly reacted in due course to a number of other violent deaths of foreign media representatives that occurred after August 20, in some cases, on the day of the incident.
We believe this situation clearly demonstrates the deeply biased approach of the UNESCO Secretariat's leadership to the performance of their official duties. It is a gross violation of the principles of impartiality and equidistance described in Article VI, Paragraph 5 of the UNESCO Constitution. Any attempts to refer to some technical reasons that hindered the bona fide fulfilment of the mandate by the UNESCO Director-General shall not be accepted. We will certainly consider this action, or rather immoral inaction, in drafting our future policy towards the UNESCO Secretariat.