IHF recommendations to the OSCE HDIM 2004: freedom of expression and the media
IHF recommendations with regard to the concerns expressed above:
1. Criminal libel or defamation should be repealed from Criminal Codes in all OSCE participating states, including but not limiting to Azerbaijan, Belarus, Hungary, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, and Serbia and Montenegro. Civil Code provisions on libel and defamation should be based on the principle that politicians and public officials must tolerate a more intense level or criticism than private individuals, not vice versa, as is provided by laws in several OSCE member states. All prison sentences handed down for libel or defamation must be commuted to proportionate fines. France should refrain from introducing new legal provisions, which would carry prison terms for defamation.
2. Journalists and reporters must be granted access to information of public interest or importance and the confidentiality of journalistic sources must be fully respected as an essential prerequisite for investigative journalism.
3. OSCE governments must take effective measures to protect journalists when carrying out their duties. All cases of attacks on or killings of journalists and reporters must be investigated promptly and independently by law enforcement agencies. Any pressure exerted on those agencies must be condemned and punished. In particular, the IHF urges the authorities in Croatia, Kazakhstan, Romania, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and Tajikistan to look into the cases mentioned in this intervention and to bring the perpetrators to justice.
4. The government of Kyrgyzstan should allow free reporting and criticism of government policies and of widespread corruption both by the media and individuals. It should ensure that the opposition leader Felix Kulov be released immediately.
5. The IHF encourages the government of Tajikistan to investigate the past cases of death of journalists, as it has indicated. At the same time the government must guarantee access to public media on an equal basis to all political parties and groups in the run-up to the elections. No measures must be taken to prevent independent or opposition politicians from rallying and disseminating information, and independent and opposition media outlets must be allowed to operate unhindered.
6. The government of Turkmenistan must adopt a completely new policy on freedom of expression and the media, allowing dissenting voices and critical reporting. All harassment of government critics must be immediately stopped.
7. The government of Uzbekistan should take immediate measures to release all journalists who have been imprisoned solely for expressing views that dissent from government policies.
8. The government of Azerbaijan make sure must that the cases of ill-treatment of dozens of journalists by the police during the post-election unrest in October 2003 are promptly investigated by an independent body and the abusive police officers are punished. An end must be put to all indirect measures that have been taken to stop the opposition or independent media from publishing or reporting – such as impeding access to printers, refusing the issuance of licences to media outlets on political grounds, and abusive tax inspections.
9. The government of the Russian Federation must stop prosecutions of scientists and journalists under fabricated espionage charges. I should order the FSB to back off from interfering in the operation of media outlets and harassing and intimidating editors and journalists who report on sensitive topics. No obstacles must be put on the way of independent dissemination of information on the crisis in Chechnya and no punitive measures must be taken against journalists and reporters who have done so. The government should openly admit to having resorted to catastrophic media policies during the tragic events in Beslan, Ossetia, in September. It should carry out prompt investigations into all reported cases of violations of the rights and reporters. Finally, the government should publicly commit itself to a new, open media policy, which is inline with international standards.
10. The government of Ukraine should stop the abuse of public institutions and the media to manipulate the October presidential elections. This includes the manipulation of the state-controlled television programming and local media under governmental influence. All broadcast media must be on an equal looting in terms of granting licenses and frequencies and in the treatment of outlets operating without licenses. The independent and opposition press should be allowed to work unhindered. The killing of Georgiy Gongadze must be re-examined in light of evidence suggesting that the state leadership has impeded the investigations. By the same token, the more resent attacks on journalists must also become subject to independent investigations.
11. The government of Turkey should ensure that the legal reforms be carried out in the past two years be put in practice in order to guarantee genuine freedom of expression and the media and all those imprisoned for expressing non-violent opinions be released. No obstacles should be put in way of reporting also on sensitive issues such as the Kurdish question and the position of the military.