|
|
Medienhilfe Ex-JugoslawienProfessionelle
Solidarität gegen Nationalismus und Chauvinismus
|
|
|
|
INTERNATIONAL HELSINKI FEDERATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (IHF)PERIODIC REPORTS FROM THE OSCE REGION APRIL - JUNE 2000E-mail: office@ihf-hr.org Tel. +43-1-408 88 22 Fax +43-1-408 88 22-50 This is the seventh of the "IHF Periodic Reports from the OSCE Region" published by the IHF on a regular basis. It contains information on recent human rights issues in some of the participating states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) provided by the IHF Secretariat and its member committees and partner NGOs. The IHF intends no political statement in the selection of countries and issues described in this report. For more information on human rights violations in the OSCE region, please visit our web page at http://www.ihf-hr.orgCompiled by Paula Tscherne-Lempiaeinen Edited by Paula Tscherne-Lempiaeinen and Nicole Watson SELECTED BY MEDIENHILFE EX-JUGOSLAWIEN:
***************** BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA:RESSURE ON "DEVNI AVAZ"In a public statement made on 21 June, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina strongly condemned recent pressure exerted on the newspaper "Devni avaz." In the latest incident, tax officials carried out a fiscal auditing at the newspaper's premises. They entered the offices with uniformed police officers of the Ministry of Interior. According to the Helsinki Committee, the incident is without precedence and represents a crude attack on the freedom of the media. Further, the Committee stated that the act is in violation of international standards governing freedom of speech and expression, and leaves Bosnia and Herzegovina behind in European integration. The Helsinki Committee called upon the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to stop applying methods used by undemocratic and authoritarian regimes in its direct neighborhood and demanded that they create an environment in which information can be disseminated undisturbed - a necessary precondition for building democracy and respect for human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Source: Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
DOES THE SR SECURITY SERVICE BUG PHONES?At the beginning of June, "Reporter" magazine (Banja Luka) published a series of articles on the illegal activities of the Intelligence Security Service of the Republic of Srpska, such as the unsanctioned bugging of telephones. The articles stated that conversations of politicians, public persons, media and others are illegally bugged. The Intelligence Security Service responded that the allegations were not true, and that no monitoring had taken place. By law, the Intelligence Security Service is allowed to monitor telephone conversations, but only with the approval of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Srpska. The court publicly stated that it had never approved such activities. The case triggered wide public debate and raised questions about the organization, activities and makeup of the Intelligence Security Service. In the Republic of Srpska, this service is not under the control of the Ministry of Interior but is directly subordinated to the prime minister of the republic. Source: Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Republika Srpska.
YUGOSLAVIA / SERBIA:RUSSIA AND THE WESTERN COMMUNITY MUST BECOME ENGAGED TO END MEDIA AND OTHER REPRESSIONOn 19 May, the IHF Secretariat and the Helsinki Committees in Finland, Greece, Russia, Serbia and Sweden all called upon democratic governments to protest against the recent Serbian government take-over of independent and opposition media. The invasion of Radio-Television Studio B, TV Mladenovac, Radio B2-92 and Radio Index by police forces on 17 May and the confiscation of RTV Pancevo's transmitter constitute the latest steps in a series of attempts by the Serbian regime to impose its control over independent electronic and printed media in the country, in the context of a general escalation against democracy. It is an unfortunate coincidence that these actions took place while the Yugoslav Minister for Foreign Affairs was on an official visit to the Russian Federation. A reaction from the Russian Federation would be crucial at this point to calm the situation, particularly by requesting early elections. The take-over followed a Decree of the Serbian Government - signed by Vojislav Seselj, vice-president of the government and president of the neo-fascist Serb Radical Party, and by Milovan Bojic, vice-president of the government and high official of the Yugoslav Left, the party of Slobodan Milosevic's wife Mirjana Markovic - which appropriated the property of all electronic media that broadcasted to the State nationwide. Only local independent electronic media remain in Serbia at present, and there are general fears that the government might close down most of them as well. Recent events illustrate the significant escalation of state repression of the media, which has been increasing since the adoption of the Public Information Act and the opposition's demands for early elections. The active engagement of the international community is greatly needed under the circumstances. Strong messages should be sent to the regime, asking for the cessation of repressive actions and the reinstitution of the occupied media to their rightful owners. Western governments can be instrumental in ensuring the continuation of the broadcasting of these independent media through retransmission, and in helping strengthen the radio and TV signals of foreign media (for example in Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia) and of Western media broadcasting in South Slavic languages. In the meantime, the media space has been dramatically reduced, widening the space for rumors and misinformation, and further enhancing political confusion and the dangerous situation existing in Serbia. Source: IHF For more information please contact the IHF, tel. +43-1-408-8822, e-mail office@ihf-hr.org |
|
P.O. Box, CH-8031
Zürich, Switzerland