OSCE official calls for end to "censorship by killing" (02/25/01)

OSCE official calls for end to "censorship by killing"

VIENNA - The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media on February 14 issued a call for participating states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to do more to put an end to censorship, promptly investigate all pending cases of "censorship by killing" and bring to justice those who have been involved in these crimes.

"I have two main messages today," Freimut Duve said. "It is people in power - business, mafia, terrorists, or government and other administrative powers - who try to silence the critical voices as soon as they realize these voices will be heard. The more you do this, the less your aim will be fulfilled. By trying to silence, you produce the contrary - an explosion of non-silence. People's awareness is raised."

"The murder of a journalist in the OSCE region, an organization of declared democracies, must become a matter of the past," he added. "This does not happen only in the East, it happens wherever the rule of law seems to be weak, where there is an attempt to silence critics. We have it all over the world on different scales."

During a press conference in Vienna, Mr. Duve noted that about a dozen cases of "censorship by killing" are reported in the OSCE area every year. He said his office continues to look into questions of media censorship. "Those in power must realize that protection of investigative journalists is protecting their country's future," he stated.

"I urge OSCE participating states to do more to put an end to this form of censorship where killing is the final step - where harassment, kidnapping and torture is the first step," he said. "It is very cynical if some people in any government believe we should not be concerned. To kill journalists is to kill the freedom of your country."

Mr. Duve also described some recent cases where journalists have gone missing or were found dead in unexplained circumstances.

Following is an overview:

During 2000, 11 journalists were killed in the OSCE region (according to information collected by Reporters sans Frontieres). Among those listed is Heorhii Gongadze, who disappeared in Kyiv on September 16. His presumed death has led to political upheaval in Ukraine. A report on his case was presented to the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on February 8, and is available to the public. There are reports that media outlets in Ukraine are under increasing pressure because of their coverage of the Gongadze case. Structural forms of censorship are being applied. For example, Radio Continent has actively followed developments, and is under a new re-licensing procedure. The television channel 1+1 issued a statement in Kyiv last week stressing that "the current political crisis in this country has intensified pressure on [free speech.]" 1+1 has been praised by local observers for its objective coverage of the Gongadze case.
In October 2000 Italian radio journalist Antonio Russo, was murdered on a road near Tbilisi, Georgia. Mr. Russo worked for Radio Radicale and had been reporting from the Georgian capital on the conflict in Chechnya.
On July 1, 2000, Dmitri Zavadsky, a camera operator with the Russian television company ORT, went missing in Belarus. There are also reports in the media that he might have been killed.
On May 7, journalist José Luis Lopez de la Calle of the Basque edition of El Mundo was shot dead. This attack is thought to have involved a terrorist criminal group.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media also reported that he is closely following the trial of those who are implicated in the murder in 1994 of Dmitri Kholodov, a Russian investigative reporter.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is the first regional organization to have a representative dealing with the issue of media freedom in 1998. The office works to assist OSCE participating States in their continuing commitment to the furthering of free, independent and pluralistic media.

Mr. Duve, a leading German politician, was appointed the first OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media at the OSCE Ministerial Council held in Copenhagen in December 1997.

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