As the President of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, Phil Tunley attended the 2019 Annual and General Meeting and conference of the International Free Expression eXchange (IFEX) in Berlin, Germany on April 8-10, 2019. CJFE was one of 12 founding member organizations that came together in 1992 to form IFEX as a global network of free expression NGOs.  Nearly 30 years later, with a membership of more than 100 organizations worldwide in 70 countries, IFEX is the leading international force for the defence and promotion of free expression.  A full program report on the Berlin AGM and conference is expected shortly on the IFEX website, IFEX.org, to include these highlights:

• An interview with Agnes Callamard, US Special Raporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution, about her forthcoming Report on the Jamal Kashoggi murder;
• A panel discussion on the contribution of the arts in free expression activism, with Ugandan Musician and Parliamentarian, Bobby Wine; stateless writer and blogger, Iyad El Baghdadi, originally from Palestine; and Bolivian film-maker Violeta Ayala; and
• A panel report on journalists who are creating “communities of action” of the kind promoted by Philippine Jourhalist, Maria Ressa, in that country (Inday Espina-Verona); in Venezuela (Melanio Escobar); and in Turkey (Can Dundar).