MEDIA FREEDOM AT THE OSCE: EAST V. WEST CONTINUES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USOSCE 000035 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV OSCE PHUM PREL KHLS RS SUBJECT: MEDIA FREEDOM AT THE OSCE: EAST V. WEST CONTINUES USOSCE 00000035 001.2 OF 002 SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The state of Media Freedom in the OSCE region continues to be a hotly debated topic, particularly between the Russian Federation and the Central Asian States on one side and the U.S., EU and several like-minded delegations on the other. As the process to select the OSCE's next representative on Media Freedom has come to a standstill due to Russian intransigence, the Kazakh Chair in Office (CiO) is scrambling to accommodate competing interests in the selection of an agenda for the 2010 Human Dimension meetings. A 'hypothetical compromise' to include a Supplementary Human Dimension meeting on Media Freedom has thus far failed to blossom. Following the U.S. thematic statement on Media Freedom at the February 4 PC, the Russian Ambassador delivered a previously planned statement on the 'failures' of Media Freedom in the U.S. End summary. SELECTING THE NEXT RFoM -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) Miklos Haraszti will step down on March 10 after six years in the position. The process to select his replacement began in September 2009 and has settled on one candidate acceptable to 55 of the 56 OSCE pS, with only Russia, since late December, refusing to withdraw its candidate. The candidate all other pS agree on is Dunja Mijatovic, from Bosnia-Herzegovina (and an ethnic Serb). In January, the Kazakh Chair in Office (CiO) told USOSCE CDA Carol Fuller they were confident Russia will ultimately withdraw its candidate - in time for Mijatovic to take up her posting before Haraszti's scheduled departure. As time passes, we wonder if Russia plans to agree to the appointment only after having gained concessions on other human rights issues. A STRUGGLE FOR A HUMAN DIMENSION AGENDA -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Simultaneously, the Human Dimension Committee (HDC) is striving to reach consensus on the schedule of events planned for the Third Dimension in 2010. Initially, the Kazakhstan CiO had proposed a work plan that relegated efforts on media freedom to the narrow topic of media self-regulation. We objected vigorously, along with a number of other European partners. Russia has repeatedly threatened that if any changes are made to the Chair's draft agenda they will insist on many of their own "priorities" - e.g., "freedom of movement." A 'hypothetical compromise' was floated on January 29 by the Kazakh delegation to include a Supplementary Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (SHDM) on Media Freedom (without reference to Media Self Regulation in the title) but at a February 4 HDC meeting, Kazakhstan again asked all pS to accept the package as originally proposed - or with the addition of an SHDM on Media Freedom and Media Self Regulation. The U.S. voiced opposition to including anything in connection with media self regulation and was supported by several like-minded pS. Kazakhstan is continuing to try and find a workable compromise. RUSSIA CHIDES U.S. ON MEDIA FREEDOM -------------- ¶4. (SBU) With media freedom continuing to deteriorate in some OSCE pS, the United States delivered an unusual (though not unprecedented) thematic statement on the topic in general at the February 4 PC meeting. Immediately afterwards, Russian Ambassador Anvar Azimov, in response to a January 28 U.S. statement in the PC on rule of law in Russia, delivered a statement on the failures of Media Freedom in the U.S. in which he excoriated the U.S. delegation for politicizing tragedies suffered by the families of killed journalists and for 'whipping up tensions' by repeatedly mentioning such matters at the PC "like a broken record." Azimov then recited a litany of claimed U.S. violations of media freedom, including such events as the "sacking" of Dan Rather (and four others) for criticizing President Bush's National Guard service, and the classification by the Bush administration of CNN as an opposition television channel for its Hurricane Katrina coverage, while the Fox News Network, due to its loyalty to the administration, broadcast "uninterruptedly positive reports" of the events in New Orleans. Azimov cited the imprisonment for 226 days of a cameraman Joshua Wolf for refusing to hand over his video coverage of a globalization protest in San Francisco and cited the pressure brought by law enforcement against journalists in the Valerie Plame and Wen Ho Lee cases with journalists Judith Miller and Walter Pincus being prosecuted or imprisoned for failing to reveal sources. ¶5. (U) Azimov said the U.S. media policy, which is held up as USOSCE 00000035 002.2 OF 002 the model on freedom of speech, "turns out to involve fairly strict media censorship." He also claimed, inter alia, that after 9/11, the U.S adopted special laws restricting the Muslim media and cited the U.S. ranking by Reporters Without Borders as #41. He cited a Washington Post story that he claimed reported the U.S. Homeland Security Department gave its border officers instructions to confiscate any material from journalists (U.S. and foreign) on a discriminatory basis and with no reasons given and to disseminate the information to other law enforcement bodies or intelligence services. ¶6. (U) In her response to Azimov, USOSCE CDA pushed back, powerfully pointing out that Azimov's cited source also identified Russia as number 148 and called Russia "one of the deadliest countries for journalists." She pointed out that in none of the incidents cited by Azimov did he allege that violence was perpetrated against journalists in the U.S. with impunity, that journalists were killed and investigations not conducted, that overly harsh prison sentences or outrageously punitive fines were imposed, or that the U.S. Government demonstrated outright hostility towards the exercise of freedom of speech - i.e., all of the items she had referred to in the U.S. statement on freedom of the media in the OSCE region. Her response further identified inconsistencies in the Russian statement and called on the Russian Federation, and all pS, to commit to a fruitful conversation on media freedom. COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Media freedom is shaping up to be one of the more contentious areas in the Human Dimension of the OSCE during the Kazakh Chairmanship. At the same time, it remains high on the agenda of the continuing Corfu Process discussions on European security. Our top priority is to assure a successful and timely transition to a new RFOM. Russia would be all too pleased to let several months pass with the office vacant (as happened by Russian doing in 2004). 8.(SBU) (Comment continued) The Kazakh CiO is feeling caught between East and West as it tries to balance competing views in the Human Dimension - most notably, of late, in the area of media freedom. With media freedoms suffering serious setbacks in Central Asia, the countries of the Southern Caucasus and Russia, and with Italy being downgraded in 2008 by Freedom House from Free to Partly Free, we are actively seeking out ways to keep this high on the OSCE's priority list. As we grapple with the broad concept of European security through the Corfu Process and in line with the Secretary's January 29 Paris speech, we are looking at possible proposals for reinforcing the role of the RFOM. FULLER