A/HRC/27/35 B. Legal framework for the protection of journalists 31. A recurrent issue raised during the discussion was the question of whether the current legal framework was sufficient for ensuring the safety and protection of journalists and media workers. The issue was looked at in terms of both the physical protection against threats and violence and protection against undue interference, including legal or administrative. Most delegations agreed that the international legal framework for the protection of journalists was in place, but highlighted the importance of enhancing the legal framework at the domestic level by bringing it into line with international standards. States, which bear the primary responsibility to protect journalists, were called upon to better implement existing international standards and to learn from good practices in other States. 32. In this context, it was emphasized that the safety of journalists could not be realized without a legal framework, firmly grounded in international human rights law, which afforded robust protection for freedom of opinion and expression. The safety of journalists could not be guaranteed if States did not respect freedom of expression. Many speakers condemned censorship as undermining and threatening democracy; for example, delegations noted that their national constitutions and legislation provided for freedom of expression and freedom of the media, and stressed that any limitation to the freedom of expression – online and offline – must be in strict compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Several delegations stressed the need to decriminalize defamation and to repeal blasphemy laws. The use of such laws to punish public interest and critical reporting was regarded as legitimizing violence against those speaking out, online and offline. 33. Some delegations stated that, given its critical and public function, journalism must be exercised with a great sense of responsibility, high ethical standards and an awareness of the duty to report fairly, objectively and accurately. Ms. Saady agreed that journalists and media workers had a responsibility, through their ethics and self-regulation, and stated that this was important to maintain the good reputation of journalists. Delegations also stressed that the manipulation of the media by Governments was not acceptable in democratic societies, but also that media professionals themselves should stand against any undue influence. In this regard, one delegation praised the memorandum of representatives of Russian and Ukrainian media organizations on the situation in and around Ukraine, adopted on 19 May 2014 at the office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. Several delegations added that an important component contributing to an enabling and stable environment for journalists was media pluralism, in the existence of numerous media providers and the representation of different political, economic, religious and other views in the media. 34. The Special Rapporteur fully concurred that the issue of safety of journalists should not be seen only in terms of assuring their physical safety, but also in the wider context of free media. He stated that mechanisms of censorship and legal harassment need to be removed. Defamation laws were increasingly being used to silence journalists, so it was crucial that defamation be decriminalized. An important role was played by the corporate responsibility of directors and owners of large media houses towards their own workers. Furthermore , concentrations of power and monopolies must be broken, since diversity and plurality of the media were critical. The Special Rapporteur added that privacy and anonymity of journalists were also vital to ensuring press freedom, and proposed that there be an ombudsman or a special rapporteur on press freedom in each country or regional body. 35. Several speakers concurred with the suggestion made by the Special Rapporteur that a United Nations declaration on the role and protection of journalists would be useful. One 10