OSCE/PERMANENT COUNCIL: RESPONSE TO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE 068408

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OSCE PREL PGOV KPAO PHUM
SUBJECT: OSCE/PERMANENT COUNCIL: RESPONSE TO
REPRESENTATIVE ON THE FREEDOM OF THE MEDIA HARASZTI


1. (U) Post is authorized to present the following statement
at the July 2 Permanent Council meeting in Vienna.

Begin text:

Madam Chairwoman,

The United States welcomes Representative on Freedom of the
Media, Miklos Haraszti, to the Permanent Council this
morning.

Mr. Haraszti, we commend your unflagging commitment to media
freedom throughout the OSCE region. Your current report
documents events in more than twenty OSCE participating
States, notes progress, but also reminds us that much still
needs to be done to promote freedom of expression and to
protect journalists. Your report identifies States that are
taking steps forward on reforms such as defamation laws, but
it also reveals disturbing cases of journalists in physical
danger or imprisoned for exercising their profession.

We continue to be especially concerned by physical violence
against journalists for their reporting about corruption,
human rights, or other important issues. As you have often
warned us, violence against media workers is the greatest
threat to freedom of the press. Your report documents several
such instances, which demonstrate a troubling trend also
described by independent and reputable press and human rights
organizations. The climate of fear is compounded when the
perpetrators of these brutal attacks are not brought to
justice, as is too often the case. The United States calls
upon all OSCE participating States to take appropriate steps
to protect journalists from physical harm, and to hold
accountable those responsible for violent attacks on
journalists. We urge that the issue of safety of journalists
figure prominently on the agenda of human-dimension
gatherings such as HDIM and other meetings where experts and
interested parties can gather to suggest best practices to
prevent perpetrators from getting away with acts of violence
or intimidation.

In your report, you allude to an overall lack of progress in
bringing to justice those responsible for physical attacks
against journalists in Russia, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan. We
join you in looking forward to updates on investigations into
several recent cases of violence your report noted against
journalists in Georgia. You note that Russia's Union of
Journalists is investigating violence against members of its
profession and partnering with the State Duma Committee on
Information Policy to create an investigative journalism
agency in response to violence against journalists. We hope
these efforts will bear fruit, as we have often expressed
concern about the many unsolved cases of murdered journalists
in Russia. Just this week, we were saddened to hear that
journalist Vyacheslav Yaroshenko, Editor-in-Chief of
Korruptsiya i Prestupnost passed away from injuries sustained
in a brutal April attack that many believed was connected to
his work. As we applaud media workers for pursuing justice,
we are reminded that the fight should not be theirs alone.
Authorities are primarily responsible for investigating and
prosecuting crimes when journalists are attacked or
intimidated; it is also their responsibility to help create
an environment in which journalists are able to conduct their
work free from harm. Governmental authorities must not allow
those who attack and murder journalists to evade justice.

We would also like to underscore the importance of a free
press before, during and after elections. Authorities have an
obligation to support and protect journalists who are
covering election-related political events. We all need to
take this commitment seriously.

We share your concern about other threats to media freedom.
The threat of journalists' imprisonment for libel or other
reasons connected with their professional work is still a
reality in several OSCE-participating States. This report
reminds us that public officials should be prepared to bear
greater scrutiny than do ordinary citizens. We join you in
welcoming the release of three imprisoned journalists in
Azerbaijan. We commend President Aliyev for his April
statement that prosecution for libel is out of step with
European standards and that imprisonment of journalists
should be avoided; we share your regret that despite the
President's statement, the founder of the newspaper Ideal was
imprisoned in May.

While handling defamation cases through civil, rather than

STATE 00068408 002 OF 002


criminal, codes is an important step, States must also ensure
that penalties in civil suits are proportionate to the harm.
Your report notes that imposition of exorbitant fines that
can force a media outlet to shut down threatens media
pluralism and freedom of expression. In this regard, the
report cites legal action threatened against multiple media
organizations by a former cabinet minister in the Slovak
Republic, which could have a chilling effect on the free
press there. We hope that this situation will spur the
Government of the Slovak Republic to review how libel law is
working with reference to its OSCE commitments to foster free
and independent media. We hope that similar cases in other
OSCE participating States, including the ten-fold fine
increase by an appellate court of a fine levied on Tazhargan
newspaper in Kazakhstan on libel grounds, will be resolved
with these same commitments in mind.

Madam Chairwoman, the United States has long advocated
freedom of the Internet from censorship and excessive
regulation. This has been an issue for our next
Chairman-in-Office, Kazakhstan, which has pledged to reform
its laws to bring them better into alignment with OSCE
commitments, before it begins its chairmanship. We encourage
and recognize Kazakhstan's continued cooperation with RFOM,
but note new restrictive Internet legislation that has been
sent to President Nazarbayev for his approval. The new law
would weaken freedom of expression on the Internet by
equating blogs and chats with traditional media and
reclassifying all Internet fora as "media outlets." We
expect that Kazakhstan, as it takes the helm of the OSCE,
will do what is necessary to strengthen, rather than weaken,
guarantees of Internet freedom.

We also want to emphasize our strong agreement with
principles for development of media freedom that RFOM has
often cited: permit international broadcasters easy access to
the public, ensure access to broadcasting frequencies by a
diverse array of media organizations, eschew state regulation
of the profession of journalism, allow unimpeded operation of
news organizations, and adopt best practices such as
providing the public with secure access to official
information, improve police handling of media workers at
political demonstrations, and leave journalists free to
develop their own voluntary codes and standards of conduct
without interference by the state.

Finally, we are heartened by all the positive work performed
by the Representative on Freedom of the Media and his staff.
Training activities, expert help, and promotion of best
practices are important contributions to equipping all
participating States to meet our OSCE media-freedom
commitments. Thank you, Mr. Haraszti, for your dedication
and good work in promoting media freedom as a pillar of the
security architecture of this region.

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.

End text.
CLINTON