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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. 
 
 
------------------- 
Supporting Fact Sheet (for written submission only) 
------------------- 
 
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 
 
STATE 00049126  002 OF 003 
 
 
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 
 
STATE 00049126  003 OF 003 
 
 
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