Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09STATE42688
2009-04-28 16:35:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Secretary of State
Cable title:
OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY
how-toVZCZCXRO1116 PP RUEHAST RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHLA RUEHMRE RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR DE RUEHC #2688 1181654 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P R 281635Z APR 09 FM SECSTATE WASHDC TO RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 9860 INFO ORG FOR SECURITY CO OP IN EUR COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS STATE 042688
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV OSCE KPAO PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY
INTERVENTION
UNCLAS STATE 042688
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV OSCE KPAO PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY
INTERVENTION
1. (U) Post is authorized to present the following statement
at the April 30 Permanent Council meeting in Vienna.
Begin text:
Thank you, Madame Chairwoman,
On May 3rd, we mark World Press Freedom Day. We do so with a
somber note, for, as we acknowledge and praise media workers
for their public service, we remember those who have been
harassed, physically assaulted, and even killed in the quest
to make the truth known.
Media workers worldwide put themselves in harm's way, and not
only in war zones. In countries around the globe,
journalists risk their lives on a daily basis, when they
shine a light into the dark corridors of government
corruption, expose intolerance, or otherwise displease
powerful figures with something to hide. The ugly and
unacceptable reality is that those who murder
journalists*those who silence voices vital to democracy and
freedom*far, far too often are getting away with it.
In its recently published 2009 Impunity Index, the Committee
to Protect Journalists focuses on the disturbing trend of
journalists' murders remaining unsolved. According to the
Committee to Protect Journalists, on average, only one out of
ten times is someone convicted when a journalist is murdered.
In many cases, governments simply fail to act at all. In
more disturbing instances, governments may actually be
involved in the murder or cover-up. This failure to
aggressively pursue these crimes and prosecute the
perpetrators sends a message to the killers that they can act
with impunity*that they will not be brought to justice.
No country should be complacent about violence against
journalists. In the United States, we witnessed in 2007 the
shocking murder of an investigative reporter, Chauncey
Bailey, in California. The full dimensions of this crime are
only slowly being unraveled as the investigation, and
controversy over its handling by local law enforcement
authorities, continues. In 2008, six journalists were killed
in OSCE participating States because of their work, according
to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and we call on these
OSCE participating States to hold the killers accountable.
According to that same NGO, sixteen journalists were murdered
in the Russian Federation alone since 1999 because of their
reporting on crime, unrest, and corruption. Of these sixteen
killings, only one case has been resolved.
The United States again commends the repeated efforts of the
Representative on Freedom of the Media to sound the alarm on
this growing problem and to remind OSCE participating States
of our OSCE commitments on press freedom. As Miklos Harazsti
has said, "Attempts at silencing critical voices with the
help of violence should be seen and handled by law
enforcement not as ordinary crimes, but as acts aimed to
undermine the basic democratic value of free expression."
It is with this sentiment in mind that we should all
pause to commemorate World Press Freedom Day and work
together to turn our OSCE commitments into living reality.
Thank you, Madame Chairwoman.
CLINTON
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV OSCE KPAO PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY
INTERVENTION
1. (U) Post is authorized to present the following statement
at the April 30 Permanent Council meeting in Vienna.
Begin text:
Thank you, Madame Chairwoman,
On May 3rd, we mark World Press Freedom Day. We do so with a
somber note, for, as we acknowledge and praise media workers
for their public service, we remember those who have been
harassed, physically assaulted, and even killed in the quest
to make the truth known.
Media workers worldwide put themselves in harm's way, and not
only in war zones. In countries around the globe,
journalists risk their lives on a daily basis, when they
shine a light into the dark corridors of government
corruption, expose intolerance, or otherwise displease
powerful figures with something to hide. The ugly and
unacceptable reality is that those who murder
journalists*those who silence voices vital to democracy and
freedom*far, far too often are getting away with it.
In its recently published 2009 Impunity Index, the Committee
to Protect Journalists focuses on the disturbing trend of
journalists' murders remaining unsolved. According to the
Committee to Protect Journalists, on average, only one out of
ten times is someone convicted when a journalist is murdered.
In many cases, governments simply fail to act at all. In
more disturbing instances, governments may actually be
involved in the murder or cover-up. This failure to
aggressively pursue these crimes and prosecute the
perpetrators sends a message to the killers that they can act
with impunity*that they will not be brought to justice.
No country should be complacent about violence against
journalists. In the United States, we witnessed in 2007 the
shocking murder of an investigative reporter, Chauncey
Bailey, in California. The full dimensions of this crime are
only slowly being unraveled as the investigation, and
controversy over its handling by local law enforcement
authorities, continues. In 2008, six journalists were killed
in OSCE participating States because of their work, according
to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and we call on these
OSCE participating States to hold the killers accountable.
According to that same NGO, sixteen journalists were murdered
in the Russian Federation alone since 1999 because of their
reporting on crime, unrest, and corruption. Of these sixteen
killings, only one case has been resolved.
The United States again commends the repeated efforts of the
Representative on Freedom of the Media to sound the alarm on
this growing problem and to remind OSCE participating States
of our OSCE commitments on press freedom. As Miklos Harazsti
has said, "Attempts at silencing critical voices with the
help of violence should be seen and handled by law
enforcement not as ordinary crimes, but as acts aimed to
undermine the basic democratic value of free expression."
It is with this sentiment in mind that we should all
pause to commemorate World Press Freedom Day and work
together to turn our OSCE commitments into living reality.
Thank you, Madame Chairwoman.
CLINTON