Press Release
Office of the Director of the Alexandria Library
9/20/2004
Posted on
The 2nd International Conference of the Beacon for Freedom of Expression, held at the Library of Alexandria18-20 Sept. 2004, was attended by more than 250 national, regional, and international participants. Valgerd Svarstad Haugland, the Norwegian Minister of Culture and Church Affairs, Aly El Din Helal, Professor of Political Science at Cairo University, and Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina were the plenary speakers of the conference.
In her Keynote address, Haugland said that human societies witness unending struggle from one generation to another and that the suppression of opinions and ideas works against society’s development and progress; therefore, freedom of expression must be a guaranteed right to all members of the society.
Haugland refered to the Alexandria Declaration issued at the end of the Alexandria Arab Reform Conference stressing that freedom of expression is an essential manifestation of democracy. No power, she said, be it political or educational, has the right to suppress freedom of expression. The Norwegian minister also noted that the Library of Alexandria sets a role model concerning libraries being the pillars of freedom of expression, since they provide knowledge to all and help citizens with the information they need to fulfill their civic duties in a democratic society. She added that knowledge should be made available to all free of charge and without restrictions.
Helal said that societies in transitional periods face many impediments if freedom of expression is not protected. In any democratic society, he explained, free flow of information and freedom of communication are the requirements for social justice and peace.
On his part, Serageldin said that without free speech no search for the truth is possible, no discovery of truth is useful and no progress is viable. Without freedom of inquiry and expression, there can be no scientific advancement, he said. Freedom, as much as imagination and boldness, is at the heart of the search for the truth and the attainment of knowledge. He emphasized that "the history of science is replete with official repression, from Hypatia to Galileo. Even today, there are those who would restrict the teaching of evolution, or dismiss the findings of genetics,” Serageldin said.
He spoke about the proliferation of channels of communication in Egypt at an interesting time and the relationship between this and the birth of the BA two years ago. Much has been done to liberalize the climate of debate and discussion in Egypt, Serageldin said, noting however that much still remains to be done. He ended his statement by Gandhi’s famous dictums “I do not want my windows to be stuffed… I want all the cultures of the world to blow about my house freely, but I refuse to be blown off my feet by any…”
Following the opening session, participants debated in their panel sessions the many diverse facets of freedom of expression. The nine panel discussions dealt with issues such as, freedom of expression issues in libraries, and the relationship between freedom of expression and copyright laws and authors’ rights and the challenges of circumventing free speech.
During the second day of the conference, a very well attended meeting by the young, focused on the new generation’s view of freedom of expression. Discussions regarding unemployment, activism, and promotion of cross cultural dialogue through modern means of communication were the main topics of their debate. The lively discussion had a resounding effect on the remaining part of the conference.
The findings of the four panels on public opinion and the role of the media; gender dimensions; the relationship between legislation and freedom of expression; freedom of expression and the new technologies were reported on the last day of the conference where recommendations were read publicly. The Conference’s report will be available soon.
To learn more about the Beacon for Freedom of Expression Conference consult the event’s website at: www.bibalex.org/beaconforfreedom