Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

attacks on the press in 2009europe and central asia: analysisstate their recognition of the important role independent news-gatherers, investigativereporters, and critical commentators play in Russia’s society.Although extreme in its animosity, Kadyrov’s reaction to the Estemirovamurder was similar to the views expressed by other Russian officials in responseto earlier media killings: Broadly promise to investigate, but diminish the crime,marginalize the victim, and dismiss the possibility of official involvement. Even ashe pledged an investigation into the 2006 killing of Novaya Gazeta reporter AnnaPolitkovskaya, then-President Putin called her work “insignificant” and said hecould not “imagine that anybody currently in office could come to the idea oforganizing such a brutal crime.”Politkovskaya, like Estemirova, had devoted her career to documenting humanrights crimes in Chechnya. She was threatened, jailed, forced into exile, andpoisoned, CPJ research shows. Her last story, published after her death, detailedthe alleged torture of Chechen civilians by military units loyal to Kadyrov. Theslaying of Politkovskaya in her Moscow apartment building remains unsolved.The international community has a clear interest in fighting impunityin the Estemirova case and in all Russian journalist killings. Without reportersuncovering facts about human rights abuses, politics, crime, and corruption,those sensitive issues are concealed from the world. A closed society cannot beregarded as a reliable neighbor and partner in the community of free, democraticnations.While in Moscow, CPJ heard a resounding message—from victims’ families,colleagues, and press freedom advocates—that international attention to Russianjournalists at risk can help prevent recurring attacks. “Journalists are always moreprotected when their fates are monitored from abroad,” said Musa Muradov, aOfficials promiseto investigate, butdiminish the crime andmarginalize the victim.North Caucasus correspondent for thebusiness daily Kommersant and a 2003recipient of CPJ’s International PressFreedom Award. While such monitoringcarries no guarantees, he added, “to a certainextent, it can save us.”Veteran press freedom advocates Aleksei Simonov with the Glasnost DefenseFoundation and Oleg Panfilov with the Center for Journalism in ExtremeSituations—whose organizations regularly document attacks on the press inRussia—told CPJ that international attention is vital in eliciting responses fromRussian officials. “If 10 Russian press freedom groups got together and wrotea protest letter to top Kremlin officials, there will be no reaction,” Panfilov toldCPJ. “Russian authorities only respond to international criticism.”Rimma Maksimova, the mother of the St. Petersburg reporter Maksim Maksimov,also noted the importance of international scrutiny in breaking through aculture of media indifference and public apathy in Russia. “For five years, I havebeen bumping my head into animpervious wall,” she said of herrepeated efforts to talk with investigatorsabout her son’s case.“No one talks to me, no one respondsto my requests for information.”Impunity emboldens enemiesof the press to practice therawest form of censorship.The international community has a number of tools to prod Russian authorities.Through its membership in the Organization for Security and Co-operationin Europe, the pan-European human rights monitor, and in the Council of Europe,Russia is obligated to comply with principles on freedom of expression outlinedin the European Convention on Human Rights. The council should ensurethat Russia fully complies with the judgments of the European Court of HumanRights in freedom of expression cases. In the event that Russia does not complywith its obligations, the council should use penalty mechanisms up to suspensionof membership.Though not a member of the European Union, Russia has partnership agreementswith the EU. The two parties regularly hold human rights consultations,known as Human Rights Dialogues, during which press freedom issues are discussed.As part of CPJ’s September mission on combating impunity, a delegationtraveled to Brussels and met with EU representatives responsible for placing impunityon the EU-Russia agenda for upcoming Human Rights Dialogues. We urgedthat the EU Mission in Russia monitor press freedom and apply to Russian journaliststhe EU guidelines on human rights defenders. Under the guidelines, the EUprovides official support and resources to human rights defenders. In our meetingswith representatives of the European Parliament, we emphasized the need forcloser scrutiny of Russia’s impunity record through subcommittee hearings.Attention to Russia’s impunity record is also needed from the U.N. HumanRights Council and, in the United States, from the Obama administration andCongress. World leaders must engage their Russian counterparts and seek resultsat every opportunity. If results are lacking, international monitors shouldbe dispatched to conduct independent, fact-finding missions. Those should endin timely reports with clear, practical recommendations; where violations areproved, international institutions must not shy away from sanctioning Russia.When the subject of impunity is raised, Russian leaders have often gone onthe offensive, demanding the world stop meddling in the country’s internal affairs,and suggesting the nation’s transition from Soviet collectivism to a modernmarket economy has been smooth compared to, say, America’s Wild West era.162163