Additional resources relevant to Article 21 (Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information)

The following are excerpts from existing human rights conventions:

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

Article 19 (1): Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.

Article 19 (2): Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)

Article 5(d)(viii): In compliance with the fundamental obligations laid down in article 2 of this Convention, States Parties undertake to (.) guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of the following rights:. (viii) The right to freedom of opinion and expression;

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

Article 12(1): States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.

Article 13(1): The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice.

Article 17: States Parties recognize the important function performed by the mass media and shall ensure that the child has access to information and material from a diversity of national and international sources, especially those aimed at the promotion of his or her social, spiritual and moral well-being and physical and mental health. To this end, States parties shall: (omissis)