23 Jul 2019 | Media Freedom, Monitoring and Advocating Coverage, News and features, Ukraine
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The majority of violations in Ukraine catalogued by Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project from 1 February to 30 June 2019 were categorised as physical assaults, attacks to property or blocked access. Most frequently, these actions were taken by agents of the state — whether law enforcement or other governmental structures.
The Monitoring and Advocacy for Media Freedom project has recorded 16 incidents in which journalists have been subjected to physical assaults, and 17 incidents in which journalists has their equipment and property damaged since February 2019, 4 of which are in both categories. The project’s numbers are corroborated by the National Union of Ukrainian Journalists (NSJU), which recorded 36 incidents targeting journalists since 1 January 2019, including physical assaults and attacks on property, as part of their Index of Physical Safety of Ukrainian Journalists.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-times” color=”black” background_style=”rounded” size=”xl” align=”right”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project documents, analyses, and publicises threats, limitations and violations related to media freedom in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, in order to identify possible opportunities for advancing media freedom in these countries. These limitations, threats and violations, affect journalists as they do their jobs, so the project’s staff advocate for greater press freedom in these countries and raise international awareness.
The project builds on Index on Censorship’s 4.5 years monitoring media freedom in 43 European countries, as part of Mapping Media Freedom platform.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Vadim Komarov murdered” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]The 20 June death of journalist and blogger Vadim Komarov is a severe and frightening example of the violence that Ukrainian journalists encounter in their work. Komarov was attacked with a hammer in the centre of Cherkasy on 4 May. His is the first recorded death of a journalist in Ukraine since the murder of Pavel Sheremet, whose car was blown up in 2016.
Komarov was struck in the head several times by an unidentified individual, in broad daylight, near the town’s busy central market. The assailant then fled. Komarov was found unconscious and bloodied by passers by, who called emergency services. According to the doctors who treated him, Komarov had suffered a grievous open head injury, and slipped into a coma shortly after surgery. He never regained consciousness.
Sergey Tomilenko wrote on Facebook that Komarov’s family and colleagues “don’t feel like there’s (the) necessary attention to this case.” The cause of the murder, said Tomilenko, was Komarov’s journalistic work. “The murder of Vadim Komarov is a crime against all journalists in general,” he wrote. Tomilenko called for solidarity among journalists, because “this topic is important for the survival of a journalist as a profession in Ukraine.”
The police were investigating Komarov’s attack as an “assassination attempt” prior to his death.
Komarov was known for his investigations of corruption among Cherkasy city authorities and the region’s prison system. The journalist had been assaulted in the past: on 7 September 2016, an unknown gunman shot at Komarov in Cherkasy, but the bullet missed him and hit a wall.
The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his deep sorrow following Komarov’s death. “I am deeply shocked by the death of Vadim Komarov, who was brutally attacked last month in Cherkasy and suffered from serious head injuries,” Désir said. “I reiterate my call to the Ukrainian authorities to complete the investigation in a vigorous and swift manner. It is regrettable that about one-and-a-half months after the attack, law enforcement has not yet identified the perpetrators nor reported any progress on the investigation. Violence and attacks against journalists are unacceptable and must stop. Impunity would be a victory for those who wanted to silence Komarov and to intimidate the press. All OSCE participating states should take effective and resolute actions to prevent and end impunity for such crimes.” [/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Aliya Zamchynska” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 20 June, Aliya Zamchynska, a correspondent for online news outlet Dumskaya, was assaulted and threatened by Yury Reznikov, Dumskaya.net reported. Reznikov is the owner of a cable car next Otrada beach in Odessa.
According to Ukrayinska Pravda, local deputies, civil activists and journalists gathered at Otrada beach to remove an illegal fence restricting public access to the beach. The video recorded by Dumskaya shows Reznikov confronting the group armed with a machine gun and threatening them. “I’m not ready to kill for private property, but I’m ready to shoot [you] in the legs,” Reznikov told them. During the episode Reznikov pushed Zamchynska, who fell to the ground and was injured as a result.
Deputy Olexander Sheremet managed to disarm Reznikov, and the police were called to the scene. They discovered that the gun had been loaded.
This is not the first time that Reznikov and his family attacked journalists and activists. In 2012, his daughter assaulted activist Zoya Melnik in front of her child. In 2014, Reznikov pushed a cameraman for Pervyi Gorodskoi TV channel into a swimming pool with his camera. [/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Maria Gural and Volodymyr Tsyganov” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 13 June, two reporters from online news site Stop Corruption, Maria Gural and Volodymyr Tsyganov, were assaulted in Priluki, Chernihiv region. The attacker was identified as Olexander Chaly. Chaly is deputy head of politician Boris Prikhodko’s election campaign for Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada, the Institute of Mass Information reported.
According to Stop Corruption, the journalists were trying to access an open event where Prikhodko was meeting with members of the public. The crew were investigating alleged voter bribery and wanted to question the politician.
Olexander Chaly first tried to snatch a microphone from Gural, and then began to assault her. Tsyganov tried to protect Gural and was assaulted as well. As a result of the beating, Gural received a concussion, and Tsyganov ended up with scratches and light injuries. The police arrested Chaly and charged him with “threat or violence against a journalist.” [/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Vadym Makaryuk” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
On 7 June, Vadym Makaryuk was physically assaulted during a mass brawl at Barabashovo market in Kharkiv by unknown individuals, Channel 24 reported. Makatyuk is a TV operator for Channel 24 and Visti.News,
A group of unidentified people assaulted the cameraperson as he filmed the altercation at the market. They sprayed tear gas in his eyes, smashed his face, broke his camera and took away his memory card. The clash was between the right-wing National Corps (who are Donbass war veterans) and the merchants of Barabashovo. According to the market administration, their conflict was due to a property dispute.
The journalist was taken to an intensive care unit in a local hospital, where doctors diagnosed a hemorrhagic stroke as a result of a cerebral haemorrhage sustained after the beating.
The police opened a criminal investigation into whether the incident constituted “threats or violence against a journalist”, “obstruction of journalists’ legal activities”, and “robbery”. A court in Kharkiv refused to detain a man involved in the brutal beating, saying that round-the-clock house arrest was sufficient punishment, Interfax-Ukraine reported. The court also sentenced Kozlyuk, a 26-year-old unemployed Kharkiv resident involved in the assault, to one month and 28 days under house arrest. Immediately after the hearing, the suspect’s lawyer said that he would appeal the decision. The prosecutor’s office also announced their intention to appeal.[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Natalia Polishchuk, Maria Petruchyk and Vyacheslav Moroshko” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 9 May, customs officers at the Yagodyn border crossing with Poland assaulted Natalia Polishchuk, Maria Petruchyk and Vyacheslav Moroshko, journalists working for Avers TV.
The three journalists were investigating a large shipment of amber, which was alleged to have been smuggled to Poland through the Yagodyn customs station. The reporting crew entered a restaurant where customs agents were attending a party and began asking questions about corruption and the amber smuggling. According to Avers, the officers who were present behaved aggressively and assaulted the journalists. They bruised one journalist’s finger and broke the crew’s camera, 1+1 TV channel reported.
“Two men approached me, they started tugging at me, tore my jacket, hit the cameraperson, hit the camera,” Polishchuk said. Petruchyk reported, “He (my attacker) wrestled my phone out of my hand, used brute force, my hand is damaged, he tore my journalist’s ID off me.” The officers also forcibly took the journalists’ driver’s licenses, car documents and bank cards. A customs officer told one of the journalists he would “bury her”. The journalists managed to film a part of the incident.
The police have opened criminal proceedings on three articles. “It’s about interfering with the professional activities of journalists, robbery and causing intentional light bodily injuries,” Viktor Homol, spokesperson for the National Police in the Volyn region, said. The case is now being investigated by the State Bureau of Investigations.[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Kateryna Kaplyuk and Borys Trotsenko” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 6 March, journalist Kateryna Kaplyuk and cameraperson Borys Trotsenko from the investigative TV project Schemes were assaulted in Chabany, a suburb of Kyiv. Schemes’s editor Natalie Sedletska reported the assault on her Facebook page. Sedletska wrote that the journalists had gone to Chabany village council to get information for an investigation on the illegal transfer of public land to private ownership.
The pair were filming at the council’s office, trying to interview the council secretary, when they were assaulted. Their attackers were two deputies of Chabany’s village head, Volodimir Chuprina and Yuri Bondar, as well as Valery Prisyazhny, the head of the public organisation Rozvitok Kyevshiny. In their attempt to prevent journalists from filming, these men injured Trotsenko and broke his camera.
Kaplyuk and Trotsenko called an ambulance. After a medical check-up at a hospital, Trotsenko was diagnosed with a concussion. The journalists filed a complaint with the police, who launched a criminal investigation. [/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Lack of “political will“ puts journalists at risk” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Despite the existence of legislation that aims to protect journalists, the NSJU said that Ukraine is notorious for impunity when crimes against journalists are committed.
Speaking at a conference held by the International Federation of Journalists in October 2018, Sergey Tomilenko, the head of NSJU, said that crimes against journalists had become the norm in Ukraine. He said that every four days there were acts of violence against journalists in the country, from brutal beatings to broken equipment.
In 2017-2018 NSJU recorded 175 physical violations against journalists in Ukraine, including minor acts of aggression and destruction of property.
Artyom Shevchenko, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior, reported on 1 March that in 2018, the police opened 258 criminal investigations on interfering with journalistic activity. In January 2019 alone, there were an additional 21 investigations. At the same time, however, only 26 out of the 258 cases related to crimes against media workers were passed on to the court.
“The lack of political will of the country’s leadership to really protect media workers leads to the fact that the attacks are not properly investigated, and those cases which still reach the court do not end with heavy punishment for the attackers”, head of NSJU Sergey Tomilenko told Index on Censorship’s project Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom. “Until recently, journalists, particularly investigative journalists, were viewed by officials as threats, and not as an important element of protecting democracy in the country.” Until recently, there has also been a political culture that legitimised humiliating journalists and the media, he added.
Tomilenko said that the NSJU has noticed that ordinary Ukrainians now feel emboldened to physically assault journalists. This is likely due to the toxic attitude toward the press created by government officials, he says. “Over the past year, we have witnessed an active uprising by the authorities–primarily representatives of the President, Petro Poroshenko, and parliamentarians of the political forces close to him–deliberate hostility towards certain journalists and the media, and calls to attack the so-called ‘pro-Russian’ media. This has resulted in the blocking of individual TV channels, the physical attacks on journalists during live broadcasts, parliamentary appeals to stop the broadcasting of individual media, and attempts to adopt draconian laws against the media.”
Tomilenko said that he was hopeful that the hostility toward journalists would abate in the future. “The victory of the new President, Volodymyr Zelensky, who does not use the rhetoric of hostility towards journalists and declares his support of freedom of speech and real political competition in the country, gives (me) hope that the Ukrainian authorities will not be at the forefront of those who reject the rights of journalists and the media.”
The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine has been calling for regular and transparent public reports by law enforcement agencies on the progress of investigations of crimes against journalists. Such reports could be used as a key tool in battling impunity. In addition, the NSJU is recommending special parliamentary hearings on journalists’ physical security and freedom of speech.
“This initiative, which we proposed in July 2017 on the 1st anniversary of the assassination of Pavel Sheremet, is particularly relevant today — when a new murder took place in Ukraine — that of regional journalist Vadim Komarov”, Tomilenko said.
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Number and types of incidents recorded between 1 February and 30 June 2019
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1
Death/Killing
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16
Physical Assault/Injury
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2
Arrest/Detention/Interrogation
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2
Criminal Charges/Fines/Sentences
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6
Intimidation
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8
Blocked Access
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17
Attack to Property
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2
Subpoena/Court Order/Lawsuits
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1
Legal Measures/Legislation
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1
Offine Harassment
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1
Online Harassment
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1
DDoS/Hacking/Doxing
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0
Censorship
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42
Total
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Source of the incidents recorded between 1 February and 30 June 2019
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0
Employer/Publisher/Colleague(s)
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7
Police/State Security
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2
Private Security
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3
Court/Judicial
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
10
Government official(s)/State Agency/Political Party
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0
Corporation
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11
Known private individual(s)
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0
Another Media Outlet
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0
Criminal Organisation
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14
Unknown
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4 Jul 2019 | Belarus, Belarus Incident Reports
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Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project tracks press freedom violations in five countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Learn more.
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Journalists barred from covering roundtable on drug problem
Zmitser Kazakevich and Viachaslau Lazarau
26 June 2019 – Vitsebsk independent journalists Zmitser Kazakevich and Viachaslau Lazarau were not allowed to cover a roundtable discussion between education officials and the parents of individuals convicted of drug offenses.
The journalists were told they could not be present at the event because they were not listed as invitees. Officials turned down a request from the organisers that the press be allowed to attend.
Link: https://baj.by/be/content/vicebskih-zhurnalistau-ne-puscili-na-krugly-stol-pa-prableme-narkotykau
Category: Blocked Access
Source(s) of violation: State Agency
Journalists banned from visiting Brest regional government
12 June 2019 – Media professionals were barred from attending a meeting between Anatol Lis, head of the Brest regional government, and environmental protestors. Three independent journalists had been included in a list of meeting participants. Audio recording and photographing during the meeting were banned.
Link: https://charter97.link/ru/news/2019/6/13/337549/
Category: Blocked Access
Source(s) of violation: State Agency
Independent media workers blocked from attending press conference
11 June 2019 – Management of a controversial battery plant I-Power blocked some independent media representatives and bloggers from attending a press conference. The Brest factory has drawn protests from area residents concerned about its environmental impacts.
Link: https://baj.by/be/content/zhurnalistau-ne-puscili-na-sustrechu-starshyni-bresckaga-ablvykankama-z-praciunikami
Category: Blocked Access
Source(s) of violation: Company
Independent newspaper’s journalist prevented from entering new court building
7 June 2019 – A Brestskaya Gazeta journalist was told she could not enter a new court building after its inauguration citing the lack of accreditation.
Link(s): https://www.b-g.by/news/otkryitie-doma-pravosudiya-v-breste-nachalos-s-torzhestva-spravedlivosti-korrespondenta-bg-vnutr-ne-pustili/
Category: Blocked Access
Source(s) of violation: Public Official
Brest blogger Piatrukhin detained while broadcasting online
2 June 2019 – Blogger Siarhei Piatrukhin was pushed into a car by men in camouflage on the corner of Mayakovski and Savietskaya Streets and taken to the Leninski district police department. The incident happened while he was conducting a live broadcast from a protest march against construction of a battery plant near Brest.
At the police station, a report was filed against Piatrukhin for disorderly conduct and he was jailed pending a trial.
On 3 June 2019, Piatrukhin was brought from the prison to the Leninski district court of Brest. There a judge postponed the hearing until 10 June 2019 and released him.
Update:
10 June 2019 – A judge in the Leninski district court of Brest fined Siarhei Piatrukhin Br765 (about $370) for disorderly conduct (Article 17.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences).
The reason for the ruling was the alleged insult of the deputy head of Leninski district police department of Brest Mikalai Samasiuk. At the trial, Samasiuk explained that the blogger asked Samasiuk, who was on duty at the time, to accept a complaint against an administrative offense “in importunate manner”. Samasiuk considered such behavior of Piatrukhin as unacceptable and called the riot police.
Links:
https://charter97.link/en/news/2019/6/3/336370/
https://charter97.link/en/news/2019/6/4/336484/
https://charter97.link/en/news/2019/6/11/337333/
Category: Detention, Blocked Access, Fines
Source(s) of violation: Police, Court[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1562239181704-1669af44-11ae-10″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
26 Jun 2019 | Global Journalist, Media Freedom, media freedom featured, News and features, Tajikistan
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This article is part of Index on Censorship partner Global Journalist’s Project Exile series, which has published interviews with exiled journalists from around the world.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
The calls came to Tajik journalist Humayra Bakhtiyar at her sports club, at the shopping center and at home. Whatever she was doing, agents from Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security wanted her to know that they knew about it.
Then there were the social media attacks by pro-government trolls: the unflattering photoshopped images of Bakhtiyar and innuendo about her family on Facebook. There were reports attacking her in government media. Finally, there was the official from the former Soviet republic’s security service, still known colloquially as the KGB, who came to the office asking about her family members and why she was putting herself in such a dangerous situation. Would she consider spying on her colleagues for him?
At issue was Bakhtiyar’s reporting on corruption, human rights and other sensitive issues in the central Asian nation for news outlets including the Russian-language Asia-Plus news site, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and Turkey’s Anadolu Agency.
Such reports were particularly sensitive during presidential elections in 2013 and parliamentary elections in 2015, both won by the ruling party of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon amid criticism from outside observers. Fearing for her safety and that of her family, Bakhtiyar moved to Germany in 2015.
President Rahmon, whose official titles include “Founder of Peace and National Unity,” has ruled the country of 9 million since 1992 in part by imposing severe restrictions on the media. In 2019 Tajikistan ranked 161st of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index, which notes that much of the country’s independent media has been eliminated. “Harassment by the intelligence services, intimidation and blackmail are now part of the daily routine” for journalists in the country, according to the Paris-based press freedom group.
The U.S.-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, one of the few independent news organizations to operate in the country, is routinely blocked by the government – despite criticism that an RFE/RL local language affiliate has itself become a voice for government propaganda. But RFE/RL is far from alone in facing censorship. Following the killing of four foreign tourists by Islamic State militants last year, much of Tajikistan’s internet was shut down.
Now living in Hamburg, Germany, Bakhtiyar spoke with Global Journalist’s Kyle LaHucik about her budding career as a Tajik journalist and the threats she faced for reporting criticism of the government. Below, an edited version of their conversation:
Global Journalist: Why did you want to go in to journalism?
Bakhtiyar: I wanted to become a diplomat in my school years. But later, I understood that my family cannot pay for me. I never wanted to become a journalist, but when I started to study, I really loved it. From my third year, I started to work full time. From early morning I’d work, and then in the afternoon I went to university to study. From 2007 to 2009, I worked overnight. Many times I slept in my office.
GJ: What subjects did you report on?
Bakhtiyar: At first, I started with social issues. But in early 2008, I was sent to parliament to report. [At] first, I really hated it because it was so boring to listen to the old men talking. But later I started to [take] interest. What does it mean? Why are they sitting there? Why are they writing what they are writing? For whom?
…After that, I started to be interested much more about the government, about who is in government, about nepotism and human rights.
GJ: Tell us about some of the human rights and government issues that interested you.
Bakhtiyar: People really don’t have any rights. When you are getting married, girls have to have this test or papers that say they reserved their virginity and can marry. Even Tajik emigrants who have to move to Russia for work, they also don’t have any rights in Russia and really no rights in Tajikistan. When you go to the hospital there is not good service, and for some doctors you have [pay bribes] because they have really low salaries.
But from Tajikistan government news you will get information that you are really living in some paradise.
GJ: How did the government try to silence you?
Bakhtiyar: I worked more or less 10 years in Tajikistan. I covered all issues: government, parliamentary corruption, nepotism, and the financial system, which is so horrible.
In early 2013, I got some messages from the KGB, the security police: I have to be careful writing, I have to stop covering some issues. In 2013 we had a presidential election, so that’s why I think the security police started to control all mass media. They started to talk to every editor first. They started to push journalists through the editors. Three or four times they contacted my chief editor at a Tajik newspaper and advised them to stop me.
My chief editor informed me every time that the security police want to talk to me. They have some special topic they want to discuss. Every time I ignored this. I said, “I don’t have anything to share with them.”
Later, they came to my office to talk with me. They asked that I talk to them, and when I talked, they asked me to come to the security office. I didn’t want to go because I was afraid. I heard how some activists and journalists have had some accidents that year. I said that if you have any official reasons to talk to me, you have to send me an official letter [that states] why, who you are, why you want to talk to me.
GJ: What did the internal security agent say in response?
Bakhtiyar: [He asked] “How are you living? How is your family? What is your father doing? Where is your mother? Is she alive? How are your brothers?”
I got the message that he already knew everything about my life. My parents are divorced for 18 years [something] I never shared with my colleagues. I lived with my father and my stepmother.
He asked me: “Do you have good relations with your stepmom?”
I tried to be so calm. I told him: “If you are so interested in my family, one day you should come for dinner and I can introduce you to them if they are so important for your office.”
He started to change our conversation and said, “You are so young, so young and so beautiful. Why are you trying to put yourself in a dangerous situation?…You are doing wrong things, your opinion is wrong, everything that you said is bad in our country is not bad. We should keep our peace. You should support our government, it is [a] really nice government.”
I said, ” I don’t want to hear from you…[I] suggest you’re free to go.”
And he just said, “You can write something as you want, but you can work with us. For example, share about what people are talking [about] around you, especially in your office, your colleagues.”
I was so angry, I asked him, “Are you serious?”
Then he started to call me many times and every time when he calls me he informed me that he knows where I am at that moment: when I was at home, when I was at my office, when I was in the shopping center or even my sports club. He really persecuted me and later I started to feel that some people are following me on the street, but I tried to ignore it.
GJ: Did this continue?
Bakhtiyar: Later they started a social attack. There were many, many of my photos published on social media, some Russian social media but mostly Facebook, because I was really active on Facebook. There were many of my photos [that were] Photoshopped and many, many wrong and dirty rumors about my life, about my family. They started to write that I have some psychological problem because I grew up with a stepmother. All the time I knew that they have just one goal: they want to see me out of journalism.
In 2015, we had a parliamentary election. I was really so active, I wrote about it. In some government newspapers they wrote some articles against me. It makes you a bit tired, morally. During this moment, one of my friends in Tajikistan, my colleague and my friend, he [suggested] that maybe I can get some scholarship outside for a short time and maybe it can help me to get a bit of rest. When I will be out of Tajikistan, they cannot see me every day. Maybe they will forget about me. I was really, really tired to live under such pressure.
We found a scholarship at [German news network] Deutsche Welle in Bonn, Germany in May 2015. They said that you are free, you can write about anything. Immediately after my second article, the Deutsche Welle editor got a letter of complaint from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan. They invited a Deutsche Welle correspondent in [Tajik capital] Dushanbe in and pushed him to say how I got an internship. What am I doing in Deutsche Welle in Bonn? Who helped me? Why am I writing from Germany about Tajik issues?
My editor just told me: “Don’t be afraid…we will stand behind you. Just continue what you think is right.”
And I continue to write. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/6BIZ7b0m-08″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship partner Global Journalist is a website that features global press freedom and international news stories as well as a weekly radio program that airs on KBIA, mid-Missouri’s NPR affiliate, and partner stations in six other states. The website and radio show are produced jointly by professional staff and student journalists at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, the oldest school of journalism in the United States. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Don’t lose your voice. Stay informed.” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship is a nonprofit that campaigns for and defends free expression worldwide. We publish work by censored writers and artists, promote debate, and monitor threats to free speech. We believe that everyone should be free to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution – no matter what their views.
Join our mailing list (or follow us on Twitter or Facebook). We’ll send you our weekly newsletter, our monthly events update and periodic updates about our activities defending free speech. We won’t share, sell or transfer your personal information to anyone outside Index.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][gravityform id=”20″ title=”false” description=”false” ajax=”false”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content”][vc_column][three_column_post title=”Global Journalist / Project Exile” full_width_heading=”true” category_id=”22142″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
23 Jun 2019
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Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project monitors threats, limitations and violations related to media freedom in five countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine for the purpose of identifying and analysing issues, trends and drivers and exploring possible response options and opportunities for advocating media freedom. The project collects and analyses limitations, threats and violations that affect a journalist as they do their job.
[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-globe” color=”black” background_style=”rounded” size=”xl” align=”right” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fmappingmediafreedom.org|||”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]The project builds on the experience and insights gathered during Index’s 4.5 years monitoring media freedom in 43 European countries as part of Mapping Media Freedom platform, which ended its first phase on 31 January 2019 and is now managed by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”106364″ img_size=”medium”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
See the latest policy recommendations for Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Reports” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”98651″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2019/09/in-a-country-that-keeps-its-media-under-a-dome-belaruss-independent-journalists-face-mounting-fines/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
On the surface, Belarus is one of the quieter places for journalists – one rarely hears about gruesome violations, physical assaults or murders of media workers in this post-Soviet country. But a lack of horror stories does not mean there is a liberal policy towards the media.
Read the full report[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”107324″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2019/07/trolls-and-insults-azerbaijans-exiled-media-increasingly-under-fire/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
After the total capture of the media environment inside the country, the government of Ilham Aliyev has turned its attention to silencing critics in exile.
Read the full report[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”98654″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2019/07/turkey-physical-violence-report/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
- In Turkey, the government uses national security and terror legislation to censor journalists.
- Arrests, detentions and trials of media workers are frequent.
- Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating Media Freedom project documented seven assaults in Turkey in May, and another one in June 2019.
Turkey’s freedom of the press was curbed after the attempted military coup in July 2016, when over 150 media outlets were shut down.
Many journalists working in Kurdish territory were subject to physical violence and threats, and Rohat Aktaş, a journalist who covered the Kurdish-Turkish conflict in the town of Cizre, was killed.
Though physical assaults on media workers have become rare in recent years, a recent surge has raised concerns about the continuing pressure on media professionals in the country.
Read the full report[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”98655″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2019/07/ukraine-physical-violence-report/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
- The majority of violations in Ukraine catalogued by Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project from 1 February to 30 June 2019 were categorised as physical assaults, attacks to property or blocked access.
- Most frequently, these actions were taken by agents of the state — whether law enforcement or other governmental structures.
The Monitoring and Advocacy for Media Freedom project has recorded 16 incidents in which journalists have been subjected to physical assaults, and 17 incidents in which journalists has their equipment and property damaged since February 2019, 4 of which are in both categories. The project’s numbers are corroborated by the National Union of Ukrainian Journalists (NSJU), which recorded 36 incidents targeting journalists since 1 January 2019, including physical assaults and attacks on property, as part of their Index of Physical Safety of Ukrainian Journalists.
Read the full report[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”98652″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2019/07/russia-physical-violence-report/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
- Independent media sources have been hamstrung by restrictive legislation and police, governmental, and private interference.
- Physical assaults, detentions, lawsuits, fines, and blocked access are common. Many outlets have chosen to practice self-censorship to protect themselves.
- Strict new laws limiting press freedom have been introduced, despite having progressive press laws from the 1990s still on the books and a constitutional article guaranteeing freedom of the press.
Out of 175 violations recorded in Russia by the Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project between February and June 2019, 20 were physical assaults that came from political figures, police structures, known private individuals and unknown perpetrators. Several of the cases are egregious examples of how physical violence is used to target journalists in Russia.
Read the full report
Previous report: Legislative restrictions, bomb threats and vandalism are just some of the issues Russian journalists have faced this year[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”Latest” full_width_heading=”true” category_id=”35195″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Incidents by Month” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”Azerbaijan” full_width_heading=”true” category_id=”34499″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”Belarus” full_width_heading=”true” category_id=”34498″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”Russia” full_width_heading=”true” category_id=”34497″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”Turkey” full_width_heading=”true” category_id=”34359″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”Ukraine” full_width_heading=”true” category_id=”34327″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Resources” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-file-text-o” color=”black” background_style=”rounded” size=”xl” align=”right” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2F2019%2F06%2Fmonitoring-and-advocating-for-media-freedom-methodology%2F|||”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
The project works with a network of independent journalists who monitor local news sources, speak to individuals involved in the situations and interface with journalist unions to understand the facts of the situation and help put the press freedom violation in a larger context.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Mapping Media Freedom reports” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship’s Mapping Media Freedom tracked press freedom violations in 43 countries between 1 May 2014 and 31 January 2019. These reports summarised the findings from that project, which is now managed by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”108218″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/mapping-media-freedom-by-the-numbers-may-2014-july-2018/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
The numbers are stark and the contexts very, but the unmistakable message they convey is that journalism is at risk in the EU35
A companion to Demonising the media: Threats to journalists in Europe, the numbers contained in this document are drawn from 3,187 press freedom violations reported to Mapping Media Freedom, an Index on Censorship project, between May 2014 and July 2018 covering 35 European Union member states, candidates and potential candidates for entry.
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Burned in effigy. Insulted. Menaced. Spat at. Discredited by their nation’s leaders. Assaulted. Sued. Homes strafed with automatic weapons. Rape threats. Death threats. Assassinations.
This is the landscape faced by journalists throughout Europe over the past four years.
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