VZCZCXRO9789
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHVEN #0035/01 0401404
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 091404Z FEB 10
FM USMISSION USOSCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6876
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY 0114
RUCNOSC/ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY IN EUROPE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ASTANA PRIORITY 0087
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 1381
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 0610

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