In the past two weeks, Ukrainian and foreign correspondents have been threatened, attacked, and detained in Russian-occupied Crimea.
On March 7, Dunja Mijatovic, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Representative on Freedom of the Media, spoke with the Kyiv Post about the current “information crisis” in Ukraine after spending six hours on the peninsula.
Mijatovic compared the dangerous atmosphere
for journalists in Crimea to that of her native Sarajevo before the Bosnian
War: “In the air you can feel it…people are not free in their thoughts and in
their movements.” She outlined a pattern of “attacks on journalists, hasty
decisions to change legislation, banning [news] channels, [and] introducing
other channels that are suitable for a certain group.” Mijatovic said that journalists
in Crimea are facing constant “intimidation and harassment” from local
self-defense groups.
On March 5, Mijatovic traveled with a team
of advisors to Crimea to monitor the deteriorating situation. As they were
leaving the peninsula, a local self-defense group that Mijatovic described as a
“paramilitary” unit, offered to “escort” her OSCE team to the airport, making
it obvious that international observers were not welcome in Crimea. Mijatovic
said that the men “had clear orders” to make sure that she left.
Under former Ukrainian President Victor
Yanukovich, journalists were occasionally harassed and beaten for publishing
damning information about the ruling regime. Since Yanukovich’s fall, however,
attacks on journalists have largely come from pro-Russian groups.
The people harassing journalists seem to be taking their cue from Moscow.
On March 6, Russian State Duma representative
Evgenii Fedorov proposed a bill to make media executives criminally responsible for allowing “the publication of false,
anti-Russian information that provides information in support of extremist and
separatist, anti-Russian forces, including portrayals of events beyond Russian
borders.”
Threats on members of the international
media covering the Russian invasion of Crimea have been increasing over the
past several days. On March 5, journalists from the BBC Russian service were
threatened by Russian soldiers who told them “Don’t move or we’ll shoot.” The
soldiers carried a Kalashnikov assault rifle, a sniper rifle, and a grenade
launcher.
On March 6, a team of journalists from CNN
was told to stop broadcasting or they would be told to leave their hotel in
Crimea.
Ukrainian news outlets have also come under
pressure.
Mijatovic said her office had been informed that the signals of TV
stations Channel 5 and 1+1 had been cut off in Crimea on March 6, and would be
replaced by Russian state-owned channels Rossiya 1 and Rossiya 2. Both channels
are mouthpieces of Kremlin propaganda. Among other intimidations of Ukrainian
journalists, Mijatovic said that journalists from Krim TV were “harassed
constantly,” but were showing “tremendous courage” by continuing to report.
The threat to freedom of the press in
Ukraine does not come exclusively from Russian sympathizers, however.
In the days following the collapse of the Yanukovych administration, lawmakers in Kyiv proposed banning broadcasts by
companies from countries that are not party to the European Convention on
Transfrontier Television. Russia has signed but not ratified the ECTT, meaning Russian companies would be barred from broadcasting in Ukraine under the bill.
On March 6, Mijatovich met with one of the parliamentarians who proposed the
legislation. The deputy promised to withdraw the bill.
Still, censorship of Russian media seems to
be increasing in Kyiv. Reporters Without Borders reported that the cable and
Internet provider Lanet had dropped three Russian TV stations for “broadcasting
aggressive propaganda, calling for war and spreading hate.”
Mijatovic said that her job is not to
monitor the content of media, but rather to ensure that journalists are able to
express their views without censorship or interference, “no matter who is in
charge.”
She said she had met with authorities in Kyiv, encouraging them to
“show a clear political will to push for investigations of the brutal beatings
of more than 170 journalists…and the murder of Vyacheslav
Veremiy,” a journalist who was attacked and killed in
Kyiv on Feb. 18.
On Friday, Reporters Without Borders secretary
general Christophe Deloire released a statement detailing violations of free
speech in Crimea: “At a time when the entire world is following events in
Crimea, those who control the region have duty to allow local and foreign
journalists to do their job. The obstruction and censorship taking place under
their authority is unacceptable.”
The crackdown on journalists coincides with
the Crimean parliament’s decision to move up the date of a referendum to decide
whether Crimea will join Russia or receive greater autonomy from Ukraine. The
referendum will now take place on March 16. The recent wave of attacks on
journalists is likely intended to minimize the number of international
observers of the referendum, which few believe will be freely or fairly
conducted.
In response to the media crisis, Mijatovic
said that the international community should “have a joint voice, and “engage
all sides in dialogue.” She said that it was essential that international
observers “maintaining a presence” in Crimea to ensure the freedom of speech
for voices of all persuasions.
Kyiv Post staff writer Isaac Webb can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @isaacdwebb
