OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: REPLY TO AMBASSADOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 049126

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV OSCE KPAO PHUM PREL RU
SUBJECT: OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: REPLY TO AMBASSADOR
AZIMOV ON MEDIA FREEDOM IN THE U.S.


1. (U) Post is authorized to present the following statement
at the May 7 Permanent Council meeting in Vienna.
Begin text:
Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.

Last week, the United States drew to the attention of the
Permanent Council the annual World Press Freedom Day.
Ambassador Azimov responded to our intervention and cited
media-freedom cases in the United States which the Russian
Federation believed did not receive as much attention in the
OSCE as they merit. Russia followed with a detailed written
document, circulated this week as PC.DEL/295/09.

We welcome Russia's raising these cases. The Permanent
Council exists for the kind of peer review and dialogue that
Russian has initiated. We want to respond fully, and will do
so in writing to save time in the Permanent Council session.
We are of course also willing to discuss such cases
privately. We do so in the hope that we can count on the
Russian Federation's continuing commitment to fruitful
conversation on media freedom, whether the cases under
discussion be those in the United States, other participating
States, or Russia itself.

In this regard, we would like to emphasize again the
important role of the Representative for Freedom of the
Media. Mr. Haraszti's reports to the Permanent Council and
the activities of his office have rightly cast a spotlight on
egregious abuses involving freedom of expression, especially
highlighting the growing problem of violence against media
workers in the OSCE region. This violence is disturbing in
itself, but it is even more so when governments fail to react
strongly against it or foster a climate of impunity, in which
perpetrators feel safe from apprehension and punishment. We
all know that these conditions exist today in the OSCE
region, and it is Mr. Haraszti's job to bring them to our
attention. It is also true that the spotlight needs to shine
where the darkness is greatest, even if that means that on
some occasions one participating State might come under more
scrutiny than another. Not to do so would cause the OSCE to
descend into a Potemkin Village of false niceties. We cannot
pretend that conditions are essentially the same in all our
56 participating States. That is simply not true, and would
imply not double, but multiple standards, and make a mockery
of our OSCE commitments.
The real answer to any question of evenhandedness by RFOM is
for each participating State to fulfill our media freedom
commitments equally. When that is a reality, individual
participating States will have no more cause to feel singled
out, either by Mr. Haraszti's office, or by other
international watchdogs like the Committee to Protect
Journalists, Reporters without Borders and Freedom House.
The United States again commends the repeated efforts of the
Representative on Freedom of the Media to sound the alarm on
the growing problem of violence against journalists 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."

Thank you, Madame Chairwoman.


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Supporting Fact Sheet (for written submission only)
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Ambassador Azimov cited in his April 30 cases stretching over
six years.

As stated last week, New York journalist George Weber was
killed by a young man who responded to Mr. Weber's internet
ad for sex. The police acted swiftly, arresting a suspect a
few days after the murder. As tragic as this killing was,
there was no discernible connection to his work as a
journalist.

We have reported previously to the Permanent Council on the
killing of investigative reporter Chauncey Bailey in Oakland
and responded to RFOM's request for information when the
murder occurred. Handling of the case by local authorities
was controversial, triggering engagement by news
organizations and civil society in what has become the
Chauncey Bailey Project. The Project sought to document
defects in the investigative process and development of

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evidence. On April 29, the alleged mastermind of the
conspiracy to kill Bailey was indicted for murder, along with
the previously indicted trigger man. The extraordinary course
of this case shows the resolve of civil society to permit no
climate of impunity in the murder of a journalist.

Ambassador Azimov raised several cases of journalists he
alleges were fired because of their political views or their
reporting, including Phil Donahue, Peter Arnett, Lance
Williams, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Dan Rather. In none of these
cases, however, did he make any allegation that the U.S.
government played a role in their dismissal. That's because
the terms under which journalists are employed are entirely a
private matter between the journalists and their private
sector employers, so long as laws on non discrimination are
observed.

With regard to the extremely rare cases in the United States
where a reporter has been jailed, it is not for the content
of their reporting, but for failing to comply with a subpoena
in a criminal investigation. The U.S. Supreme Court has held
that in such cases, reporters enjoy no privileges that exempt
them from having to provide testimony before a grand jury.
Nonetheless, the Administration supports passage of a federal
media shield law provided it does not undermine the
government's ability to enforce the law and protect national
security, and is currently working with the Congress to craft
a mutually acceptable bill.

The Kane County Chronicle newspaper in Illinois was ordered
to pay $3 million after a court ruled its 2003 articles about
the Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice libelous. The
Chronicle agreed to apologize to the Chief Justice and paid a
$3 million settlement in court. Contrary to Ambassador
Azimov's assertion, the Chronicle continues to report, and
one may look for news on its website,
http://www.kcchronicle.com/. Incidentally, since 1980, libel
suits by judges have gone to trial twelve times, according to
the Media Law Resource Center in New York. The judges have
prevailed in five of those cases.

Ambassador Azimov charged that Federal Bureau of
Investigation agents used tear gas on more than twenty
innocent people, including journalists, who were not doing
anything illegal, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in February,

2006. In this incident, FBI agents were carrying out, under
a search warrant, an apartment search in San Juan, Puerto
Rico. There was some controversy over whether or not
physical force and pepper spray were used, or if agents put
their hands in front of cameras of reporters who had massed
near the apartment. A lawsuit was brought against the FBI,
but a federal district judge concluded that the agents did
not violate the First Amendment rights of the journalists and
dismissed the case.

In a different case, nine people, including journalist Liz
Seymour, were arrested during an anti-war protest in
Greensboro, North Carolina. Each was charged with "impeding
traffic," a misdemeanor offense. After being released, Ms.
Seymour said, "I've never been arrested before, but I decided
after a lot of soul-searching that we needed to do something
to show that this affects all of us."

We thank Ambassador Azimov for raising journalist incidents
at the national conventions last year of the Democratic and
Republican parties.

There were 17,000 credentialed media workers in Denver for
the Democratic Convention. The city government assisted the
journalistic community in setting up a media hotline to help
media workers obtain free 24-hour legal aid when they
encountered access or reporting problems, or faced
law-enforcement action. We think this merits consideration
as a best practice.

Despite the multiplicity of political-party activities and
street events, only one of the 17,000 with media credentials
was arrested. Asa Eslocker was arrested and charged with
trespass, interference, and failure to follow a lawful order
while attempting to film Democratic Party officials and
donors leaving a private event at a Denver hotel. He was
released the next day. When the City Attorney reviewed the
case against Eslocker after the convention, it was dismissed.
No prosecution was undertaken.

The Republican convention in St. Paul, Minnesota was the
largest event ever hosted by this small city. An AP
photographer and three persons with media credentials from an
organization, Democracy Now!, which calls itself a
"nationally independent news program," were arrested during
street demonstrations, and later released. After reviewing
charges against these persons and the circumstances, St. Paul

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authorities dropped all charges. It should be noted that the
unlawful assembly charges filed against them were for a
misdemeanor offense, which is not considered to be a criminal
charge. Mindful of controversy about its handling of
large-scale street demonstrations with which the city had no
previous experience, St. Paul commissioned after the
convention an independent citizens' commission to study the
city's performance and make recommendations for the future.
The commission issued a report which has now been the basis
for further civic debate. We think here too there is a
potential best practice for RFOM's consideration.
CLINTON