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O 032345Z FEB 10
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TO USMISSION USOSCE IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 011176 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV OSCE KPAO PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: STATEMENT ON THE STATE OF 
MEDIA FREEDOM IN THE OSCE 
 
¶1. (U) Post is authorized to present the following statement 
at the February 4, 2010 Permanent Council meeting in Vienna. 
Begin text: 
 
Thank you, Mister Chairman, 
 
On numerous occasions, the United States has taken the floor 
here to address serious and specific concerns regarding media 
freedom in various OSCE countries. 
 
In his speech in Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, 
President Obama said we need to build a world where peace 
rests on the inherent rights and dignities of every 
individual.  Our earliest OSCE commitments set forth this 
same principle, as do a host of Ministerial Decisions and 
Summit Declarations on media freedom, freedom of expression, 
and the safety of journalists that we have collectively 
passed - of our own volition, by our own choice, and through 
our own doing - in the years since the Final Act in Helsinki 
in 1975. 
 
Sadly, today, we again take the floor -- not to address the 
wrongs done to an individual journalist or a penalty imposed 
upon a single media outlet, but rather to draw our collective 
attention to the grave threats gathering in the OSCE area - 
and, as a consequence, to this organization - from increased 
perils faced daily by individual journalists and others 
exercising their universal right to freedom of expression, 
which range from  violence perpetrated against them with 
impunity, to the all too frequent criminalization of speech; 
from overly harsh prison sentences or outrageously punitive 
fines on media outlets, to outright government hostility 
towards the exercise of freedom of speech and efforts to 
censor opinions that are not shared by government 
bureaucrats. 
 
Many respected international organizations, including Freedom 
House, Reporters Without Borders and others have warned of 
the backsliding we have witnessed in the last ten years in 
media freedom in the OSCE region.  A full 22 of our 
participating States are currently ranked as either Partly 
Free or Not Free by Freedom House.  Sadly, many citizens in 
participating States have become inured to the unceasing 
litany of brutalities and other pressures faced by 
journalists.  We have become accustomed to reports that a 
media outlet has been fined millions of Euros for remarks 
perceived as insulting by a government ) indeed, by more 
than one government seated at this table.  Selective or harsh 
application of bureaucratic procedures and tax 
investigations, and the sometimes crippling fines that 
result, threaten the sustainability of independent or 
opposition media outlets.  The utter lack of results from 
most of the investigations into violence against journalists 
has become the default response of governments determined to 
manage and control access to information by their own 
citizens in print, on television or via the internet. 
 
In her recent speech on internet freedom, U.S. Secretary of 
State Hillary Clinton spoke of an "urgent need" to protect 
freedom of expression, including the digital frontier of the 
21st century and called the "freedom to connect" to global 
information networks an &on-ramp to modernity.8  As we 
witness the transformation of the media toward new 
technologies such as Facebook, Twitter, and text messaging, 
some governments have seized chances to control these methods 
under the pretext of national security. 
 
Another worrisome development is the increasing lack of 
pluralism in media ownership that in some parts of the OSCE. 
When the vast majority of public information - be it in print 
or broadcast media - passes through just a few individual 
gateways, controlled either by governments or by private 
firms that hew a government line, the result is a media 
environment tending toward canned messaging and propaganda 
that falls short of our democratic aspirations and 
principles. 
 
As we raised at the Permanent Council on October 29, 2009, we 
remain disturbed that the numbers of civil lawsuits and 
criminal charges being brought against journalists on 
trumped-up charges of violating state secrets, defamation, 
hooliganism, or "moral damages" has increased substantially 
in some participating States who seek to use the law as a way 
to control or intimidate the media. 
 
Among the most distressing trends is the physical danger 
faced by increasing numbers of journalists that often goes 
unchecked.  In one OSCE country, 19 journalists have been 
killed since the year 2000, with only two convictions 
resulting in these cases.  In one Central Asian country, last 
year alone, more than eight journalists were violently 
assaulted and two were murdered.  In both countries, as in 
too many other OSCE participating States, inadequate 
responses by the governments and poor investigations 
promulgate an attitude of impunity and provide encouragement 
to others to opt for violence against journalists who 
threaten to expose their activities. 
 
We are pleased that two OSCE countries, in keeping with their 
OSCE commitments, have recently opted to decriminalize 
speech.  Even though their laws had not been used for a 
considerable period of time, the decision to remove them from 
the books is an example of adhering to both the spirit and 
the letter of our common commitments. 
 
In the spirit that brought us inspiringly close to a decision 
on media freedom in Athens, we urge all participating States, 
and particularly those who were unable to join consensus on 
that decision, to commit anew this year to respect the right 
of our citizens to receive and impart information freely and 
without undue governmental interference. 
 
In that same spirit, and as we move forward with the 
cross-dimensional Corfu Process throughout the coming year, 
we urge our fellow participating States to engage creatively 
in finding new mechanisms to strengthen the OSCE's role in 
guarding media freedom and promoting full implementation of 
OSCE commitments in this area. 
 
Mr. Chairman, I am aware that it is unusual to address the 
Permanent Council in this manner. But we must not let the 
extraordinary dangers confronting the media in too many 
participating States become routine. The United States calls 
upon all OSCE participating States to give deep and serious 
consideration to the commitments we have undertaken; to 
recognize that until there is true freedom of expression, 
there can be no true and lasting security. 
 
Thank you Mister Chairman. 
 
END TEXT 
CLINTON