Attacks on Journalists at OSCE Spotlight

Baku / 08.04.19 / Turan: Violent attacks or the threat of violence against journalists will be the focus of an international conference organized by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media in Vienna on 12 April 2019. The event will bring together many journalists who have experienced violence, or relatives and co-workers of victims of such attacks, including the son of killed Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and the Chief Editor of Aktuality.sk, where murdered Slovak journalist Ján Kuciak worked.

The conference will provide a forum for journalists to share their experiences and to contribute to discussions on how OSCE participating States can better protect the right to freedom of expression and of the media.

The event will also be attended by international media experts, academics and policy makers from over 30 countries. Key media participants will include, among others:

* Matthew Caruana Galizia, Investigative journalist and son of killed journalist Daphne Anne Caruana Galizia (Malta)

Peter Bárdy, Chief Editor of Aktuality.sk, where killed journalist Ján Kuciak worked (Slovakia)

Katya Gorchinskaya, Journalist/Media Manager and friend of killed journalist Pavel Sheremet (Ukraine)

Svetlana Lukić, Editor-in-Chief of the Peščanik online portal (Serbia)

Elif Akgül, Freelance journalist (Turkey)

Lukpan Akhmedyarov, Chief Editor of the Uralskaya Nedelya newspaper (Kazakhstan)

Tatyana Felgenhauer, Deputy Editor-in-Chief and presenter at Ekho Moskvy radio station (Russia).

The discussions are expected to focus on how journalists continue to investigate while their profession comes under increasing assault; on how to deal with threats and self-censorship; and the challenge to media freedom caused by the impunity for murders of journalists.

In December 2018, the OSCE participating States adopted a landmark decision on the safety of journalists at the Ministerial Council meeting in Milan. The document entitled Decision No. 3/18 Safety of Journalists calls for "political leaders, state leaders and authorities at all levels to protect journalists from threats and intimidation or unfair sentences for their professional activities, and to sharply condemn such manifestations. "

The document "recognizes that the work of a journalist can put him and his family members in danger of violent actions."

The Council of Ministers is called for "taking effective measures to prevent crimes against journalists which should not go unpunished".

"Independent media is an essential element of a free and open society and an indicator of a healthy management system," the document says.

Decision No. 3/18 requires "the immediate release of unreasonably detained journalists", as well as "protecting the work of the media from unlawful interference, including the use of new technologies."

The Italian Foreign Minister, Enzo Moavero-Milanese, who chaired the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, noted that agreeing on such a document and its unanimous support for the first time in almost 30 years is the most important achievement of the meeting.

In particular, it calls for "to protect political leaders, state leaders and authorities of all levels from threats and intimidation or unfair sentences of journalists for their professional activities, as well as sharply condemn such manifestations." At the same time, "it is recognized that the work of a journalist can put him and his family members under the threat of violent actions", therefore, the OSCE countries "call for effective measures to prevent crimes against journalists who should not go unpunished." "Independent media is an essential element of a free and open society and an indicator of a healthy management system," the document says.

It emphasizes the importance of investigative journalism and the participation of journalists in covering the elections. At the same time, the text points to the need for "the immediate release of unreasonably detained journalists", as well as "protecting the work of the media from unlawful interference, including the use of new technologies." A separate point concerns the security of women's online journalism.

Summing up the work of the Council of Foreign Ministers, the Italian Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero-Milanese, who was the chairman, noted that agreeing on such a document and its unanimous support for the first time in almost 30 years is the most important achievement of the meeting. ---0-----