19. 06. 2014

OSCE: INCREASED PROTECTION FOR JOURNALISTS NEEDED

19. 06. 2014 (Tanjug, B92) - Much more must be done to protect journalists in crisis zones such as Ukraine, warned today the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović told AFP that human rights groups were slow in responding at the beginning of the crisis, on the eve of mass protests that took place after the overthrow of the government of the Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich.

"Now the situation is different, but if you go back to the beginning of the crisis in December when there were first such attacks against more than 40 journalists on Maydan (square), we were completely alone at this time," said Mijatović.

In recent months, journalists reporting from Ukraine have been constantly targeted for attacks and kidnappings.

On Tuesday two employees of Russian television journalist Igor Kornelyuk and sound engineer Anton Voloshin were killed in eastern Ukraine, raising the number of killed journalists in Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict to five, according to Reporters Without Borders.

Mijatović, in her regular report, said that since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine there has been a series of cases of violence against journalists.

As she pointed out, UN and EU human rights bodies are "tied down" by procedure and before taking action they need approval of member states, "and they are much slower than they should be in resolving certain issues."

"It is disappointing," said Mijatović, who added that "there are never too many voices when you need to defend media freedom and safety of journalists around the world."

There is a long way to go in order to guarantee media freedom in all 57 OSCE member states, which range from the United States, Finland, to Turkey and Tajikistan, said the French news agency.

"Regrettably, the situation regarding freedom of the media is worsening... in too many countries, in my opinion, especially when it comes to the safety of journalists," concluded Mijatović.