VZCZCXRO4112
OO RUEHAST RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHLA RUEHMRE RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSL
RUEHSR
DE RUEHC #8408/01 1821941
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 011918Z JUL 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE IMMEDIATE 1777
INFO ORG FOR SECURITY CO OP IN EUR COLLECTIVE

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