Newsroom
OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina confirms increased pressure on journalists
SARAJEVO 6 April 2000
SARAJEVO, 6 April 2000 - The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina has analyzed the reports of threat and intimidation made in the past year against journalists and confirms that the verified cases of intimidation and interference have increased substantially since the start of the election campaign period on 23 February.
"In the entire past year, we received report of 62 credible cases of threats to journalists; in the first two weeks of March alone we saw a doubling of the average incident rate of the entire preceding year. This may indicate that journalists are now willing to speak up, or it may mean that the pressures on journalists are increasing, both in variety and frequency," remarked Regan McCarthy, Senior Advisor for Media Affairs.
Threats to journalists and media outlets have taken many forms over the past year including unwarranted defamation lawsuits, physical attack, written and verbal threats (particularly from authorities), intimidation, harassment, withholding of salary, misuse of government agencies (e.g., tax offices) and denial of services (e.g., cut-off of electricity). The most common is misuse of the courts through unwarranted defamation lawsuits but the most dramatic are actual physical attacks, such as the car bomb attack experienced by Zeljko Kopanja in October 1999.
During the election campaign period, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has seen a variety of pressures primarily on media outlets, most often characterized by verbal or written threat to stop a particular line of inquiry or by a concerted effort to harass the outlet through multiple forms of pressure including tax office review, cut-off of power and phone lines, disrupted distribution of papers, and in one case, threat of complete close-down of a private broadcaster.
Journalism in BiH during the election campaign has been vigorous in exposing the alleged role of government and party officials in political and financial corruption and in war crimes. Additionally, there is increasing attention in the media on "bread and butter" issues - schools, hospitals, employment, and the like - which demand action of political and government officials.
In a recent survey of 120 journalists in BiH conducted by the OSCE in mid-March, two-thirds reported that they had experienced one or more threats in recent years and half reported that the violation of journalists rights was increasing this year. They also reported that the greatest pressure on them came from elected and appointed government officials and political party officials, which together accounted for more than 70% of reported incidents of known intimidation and threat.
The OSCE established its present Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 18 December 1995. In accordance with the General Framework Agreement for Peace, the OSCE activities are to promote democratization and the building of a vibrant civil society; foster the development of professional journalism and monitor the rights of journalists; monitor and advance the human rights situation; supervise the conduct of elections, and encourage Regional Stabilization through arms control and confidence and security-building measures.
The OSCE Mission continues to work closely with other international organizations and local institutions to implement the Dayton Peace Accords.
MEDIA CONTACT: For information, contact the Press and Public Information, OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, tel.: (+387-71) 292 172; fax: (+387-71) 292 289; website: www.oscebih.org; e-mail: press.ba@osce.org
"In the entire past year, we received report of 62 credible cases of threats to journalists; in the first two weeks of March alone we saw a doubling of the average incident rate of the entire preceding year. This may indicate that journalists are now willing to speak up, or it may mean that the pressures on journalists are increasing, both in variety and frequency," remarked Regan McCarthy, Senior Advisor for Media Affairs.
Threats to journalists and media outlets have taken many forms over the past year including unwarranted defamation lawsuits, physical attack, written and verbal threats (particularly from authorities), intimidation, harassment, withholding of salary, misuse of government agencies (e.g., tax offices) and denial of services (e.g., cut-off of electricity). The most common is misuse of the courts through unwarranted defamation lawsuits but the most dramatic are actual physical attacks, such as the car bomb attack experienced by Zeljko Kopanja in October 1999.
During the election campaign period, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has seen a variety of pressures primarily on media outlets, most often characterized by verbal or written threat to stop a particular line of inquiry or by a concerted effort to harass the outlet through multiple forms of pressure including tax office review, cut-off of power and phone lines, disrupted distribution of papers, and in one case, threat of complete close-down of a private broadcaster.
Journalism in BiH during the election campaign has been vigorous in exposing the alleged role of government and party officials in political and financial corruption and in war crimes. Additionally, there is increasing attention in the media on "bread and butter" issues - schools, hospitals, employment, and the like - which demand action of political and government officials.
In a recent survey of 120 journalists in BiH conducted by the OSCE in mid-March, two-thirds reported that they had experienced one or more threats in recent years and half reported that the violation of journalists rights was increasing this year. They also reported that the greatest pressure on them came from elected and appointed government officials and political party officials, which together accounted for more than 70% of reported incidents of known intimidation and threat.
The OSCE established its present Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 18 December 1995. In accordance with the General Framework Agreement for Peace, the OSCE activities are to promote democratization and the building of a vibrant civil society; foster the development of professional journalism and monitor the rights of journalists; monitor and advance the human rights situation; supervise the conduct of elections, and encourage Regional Stabilization through arms control and confidence and security-building measures.
The OSCE Mission continues to work closely with other international organizations and local institutions to implement the Dayton Peace Accords.
MEDIA CONTACT: For information, contact the Press and Public Information, OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, tel.: (+387-71) 292 172; fax: (+387-71) 292 289; website: www.oscebih.org; e-mail: press.ba@osce.org