SITUATION IN MEDIA IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
FROM THE ASPECT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

(January – December 2001)

Within the framework of the regular project of monitoring, registering and analysing all the relevant events and facts illustrating the situation in media in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the context of human rights, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH has paid special attention to the process of establishment of legislation in this field, to various forms of pressures and blackmails by the authorities and policy on public media and media workers, to the cases of physical threats to journalists, to their self-organizing, social and economic position as well as to reform and transformation in the field of information.

ACTIVITIES RELATING TO THE LEGISLATION

Following the adoption of the Law on Free Access to Information at the state level (June 2000), the same laws were adopted in both entities (Republika Srpska and Federation of BiH) in 2001, thanks primarily to the international institutions. The application of the law in the Federation of BiH has been postponed for February 2002.

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH classifies these documents in the category of those documents necessary for democratisation of BiH, especially in the struggle for improvement of freedom of public word. By passing these acts, the work of the governmental bodies and all the public institutions at all the levels will become more transparent, and their responsibility toward the voters and all the citizens will increase.

All the time, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH has been engaged in the promotion of these laws and it will urge, with the same seriousness, for their full implementation by encouraging the citizens to realise one of their fundamental human rights – right to information.

Our monitor from RS warns that there are still no full effects achieved from the time of passage of the Law on Free Access to Information. Namely, the state bodies and public institutions have not yet established services and mechanisms for delivery of requested information.

There is also an impression that not even all editorial offices and journalists are sufficiently aware of their right to information and chances opened for them, particularly in the investigative journalism.

In the Republika Srpska, the Law on Libel and Defamation was adopted, but in the Federation of BiH it is still, unfortunately, due to unjustified delay, in the parliamentary procedure.

To remind, the Law on Libel and Defamation treats the libel as civil offence, thus eliminating these categories from the penal law. It regulates the civil responsibility for libel through coding the highest international standards guaranteed by the Constitution of BiH and the Entities, particularly through those ones established by the judgments of the European Court for Human Rights. The Law on Libel will function as lex specialis, within the civil law of BiH. This means that it exclusively regulates the legal field of libel and all the matters that are not regulated by this law (procedures, legal remedies and similar) are regulated by the existing laws in the field of civil law.

Estimating the significance of this document, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH urges that the Law on Libel be adopted at the fedaral level as soon as possible.

All the mentioned laws present potentially powerful tool in something what we call free journalism, prepositions necessary for free work of media are created in accordance with the legal regulations, a greater degree of transparency and responsibility of the governmental authorities is ensured, and at the same time, responsibility of journalists for respect of the highest standards of the journalist profession.

A process of issuance of long-term licences for electronic media in BiH is continued. The Communications Regulatory Agency (CRA) issued about 150 licences to radio stations and about 50 to TV stations by the end of the year. At the beginning of the action, due to a bureaucratic behavior and inconsistent application of adopted critera there were justified disagreements.

Media and journalists severely reacted against the decisions of the Communication Regulatory Agency, which deprived a number of radio and TV stations of long-term licences, and opened the issue of respect for free expression and right to work as fundamental human rights.

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH positively estimates the reaction of the Ombudsmen of the Federation of BiH who stood in support of protection of these rights and who contributed that CRA made corrections of some of its decisions.

Due to its disagreement with the manner in which the first issuance of long-term licences for electronic media in Tuzla was conducted, the Helsinki Committee deemed that this process was not transparent, inconsistent, and with rigid and bureaucratic legal logic, to which the CRA’s Council did not oppose when considering complaints from media who had been denied permanent licence.

The Helsinki Committee also deems that the media reform in BiH was very slow and with many difficulties, especially when speaking of tranformation of radio-television sysstem. The complex nature of this issue called for planned and professional approach, which unfortunately was not present.

The Committee has, on several occasions, warned the OHR and public of the slow and inadequate process. The OHR did not have a clear picture and vision, has had much more active role in this work, primarily because the local political leadership has not be actively participating in finding solution to this problem.

The OHR stresses that the process of reconstruction is being obstructed by the ruling political parties that continue believing that electronic media should serve more to them than to the citizens of BiH, who are paying for the services. However, the effects of the work of the foreign experts, who are earning much money, are also weak, and they do not sufficiently contrbute to good relationship and successful process of transformation.

However, Radio BiH, created as public servise for the whole state by merging technical and personnel potentials of former Radio BiH and Radio FERN, was launced with a big delay. One programme of the BiH Federation Radio has been also established.

In the third quartal of 2001, on the technical and personnel grounds of TV BiH, the Federation TV on two channels started working, with large discontent and obstructions from HDZ.

Concept of the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) is in the course, and for the time being, it is possible to expect one-hour information broadcast that would cover the entire territory of BiH only in spring. PBS should start working in March 2002. It is difficult to understand that neither authorities nor public nor employees of the television express any interest in the process of transformation.

The government of the Federation of BiH made draft proposal of the Law on RTV BIH only on 16 October and gave suggestion to the Parliament to pass it in urgent procedure. At the same time, The Council of Ministers was suggested to draft changes and amendments to the Decision on Public Broadcastiung Service, with a demand to include the government into this work.

During the year, the FBiH Ombudsmen addressed the founders and leaders of electronic media to legalise their broadcasting and to respect the authors’ rights, by acting in accordance with the Law on Author’s Right and other laws and acts regulating this field. In spite of many requests from the country and abroad of the owners of author’s rights, the electronic media are not fulfilling theirs by law-established obligations relating to material and moral rights. There is an obvious violation of human rights guaranteed by the European Conventions for Protection of Human Rights and Fundametal Freedoms as well as its Protocols and International Covenants on Human Rights that are directly applied in BiH.

SELF-REGULATION

There was no great progress even in 2001 in self-organising of journalists and other media workers. During the year, we got new association instead of interest association of the existing five journalists’ associations.

In Mostar, the Association of Journalists “Apel” was established, which gathered about fourty journalists from the Federation of BiH.

Thus, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we have six journalists’ associations the activities of which are not in conformity with the general situation in media. The best illustration of unacceptable relationship towards the members as well as of the members towards their own problems is an attempt of the Association of Journalists of Bosnia and Herzegovina to convene regular annual assembly of the association. Due to lack of quorum, the meeting was postponed for one month.

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH will, in the same manner as before, support any action aimed at coordinating the activities of the journalists’ associations in BiH in the key directions of their joint interest, if it is impossible to have them united. It is dificult to accept the fact that media workers themselves cannot find strength to make a step towards joint work and joint activities.

The existing trade unions are not up to the situation or they are just manipulated by employers. The best results are achieved by the trade unions organised in a concrete environment. However, we should stress here that the trade union of a daily “Oslobodjenje”, during the strike when they tried to solve existential problems of their members, received valuable expert assistance of the trade union of BiH.

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH deems that the establishment and beginning of the work of the Press Council of BiH was a great step forward in self-regulating the media. Its establishment resulted from the need to check whether the Code for Press is respected, which was signed by the Independent Union of Professional Journalists of BiH, the Journalists’ Association of Republika Srpska, the Journalists’ Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Trade Union of Professional Journalists of the Federation of BiH, Independent Journalists’ Association of RS, the Association of Croatian Journalists in BiH, in 1999, after two years of negotiating.

Sarajevo-based Council is composed of thirteen members and the Head of it for the two-year mandate is Lord John Vejkam. The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH, although supporting this body, deems that it is not good that the Council engages only in written complaints, only in the cases in which denial had been previously sent or any other kind of reaction to media to which the complaint refers to. The Committee deems that all those who did not react with editorial offices by denial to submit complaint to the Press Council, for we can imagine that many citizens whose rights can be threatened are not ready or trained to react by denial. The Council should, in drastic cases of violation of the Code, react self-initially, particularly when the language of hatred is in question.

When speaking of the language of hatred, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH deems that in the last year, especially when speaking of electronic media, it was more the matter of incident. Most probably, the regulations of CRA contributed to that, which was punishing the use of language of hatred and “threatening” with non-issuance of long-term licences. Printed media, i.e. some of them, did not give up the use of language of hatred. Here, we think mainly of Banja Luka-based weekly “Prst”, Mostar-based “Dnevni list” and Banja Luka-based “Glas srpski”.

For example, for “Prst” it is enough to say that its first two pages on the heading bear the names “baliluk” and “sokadija” (insulting words for Muslims and Croats) and below there are texts from the Federation of BiH in which mainly “Turks” and “Ustashas” are being mentioned. As authors of the texts, malicious and unauthorized, there appear the signatures of renowned journalists from other media.

“Glas srpski” with unchecked information, insinuations and style is also very often trying to call back ghosts of the past. A case of a murder of a girl, Suzana Simikic, in Brcko is the best illustration. It lasted for days that this daily claimed that a member of Bosniak people committed the monstrous murder of the Serb girl. Before the police investigation was completed, “Glas srpski” was daily publishing at the striking places, serious accusations against one ethnic group thus causing fear of another the other ethnic group. Finally, it was established that this human tragedy did not have any national sign and that the unlucky girl was killed by her compatriot.

“Dnevni list”, which absolutely supports Croatian self-rule and does all to “explain” the impossibility of co-existence in these territories, for example, published on 28 November an interview with the President of the Croatian Christian Democratic Revival and Vice President of the Out-Institutional “Croatian People’s Assembly”, Anto Paponja, under the name “BiH was always a framework for tyranny against Croats”.

Paponja, among else, says: “The history teaches us that BiH has never been the state of the Croatian people, but only political temporary solution and a framework for tyranny against Croats…” Speaking of the International Criminal Tribunal in the Hague, he said: “The Hague Tribunal is established as political tribunal. When Croats are in question, they are being judged in the Hague not only for the past but for the future as well.” This directly disputes the role of the international authorities in the peace process in BiH and normalization of the inter-ethnic relations. By pleading for pure Croatian television/ (in which “Dnevni list” is particularly active – author’s note), Paponja swooped down on the Federal television, saying, inter alia, “I deem that any of mindful Croatian journalists has nothing to look for in a such television.”

The national exclusivity of Paponja was particularly expressed in his answer to the question about his attitude “towards Islam in the world and in BiH”. His response reads as follows: “Although many apologists of multiethnicity and globalism cynically analyse the sub-variants of Islam such as European Islam, Liberal Islam – I fully share the opinion of the recent Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Naipul, and deem that there is no Islam which is not fundamentalistic and that the recent attacks had fully shown its radical fascist face”. No doubt, Paponja has the right to his opinion, but we deem that “non-reaction” of journalists and editor-in-chief of “Dnevni list” in a form of putting any sub-question or “protesting against” such thinking is utterly unprofessional and not in accordance with the Code.

In June, the Association of Independent Electronic Media /AEM/ held the third assembly in Teslic, before it resolved its legal status. The joint interests of the members are obvious, but even at the meeting in Teslic, individual interests prevailed. The time was spent in asking for guarantees from the representative of CRA and in personal promotions.

At the very beginning of 2001, the Association of Students of the School of Journalism of Media Plan was established, thanks to the initiative of attendees of the mentioned institute. The objectives of the Association are set in different forms of co-operation among the young students of the School of Journalism of Media Plan that has become of regional character until the end of 2000, since the attendees are from the former Yugoslav territories.

RELATIONS: AUTHORITIES – POLITICS - MEDIA

In the year 2001, the authorities and political parties were, in various ways, trying to keep journalists and media throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly those who foster free – critical, analytical and research journalism under control and not to provide them with timely and exact information.

The monitors of the Helsinki Committee reported on extremely difficult position of local media. Independent media were being suppressed in various ways, while the media established by the municipalities and cantons were in quite submissive position. The Regional Centre of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) estimate reads that the percentage of interference of the governmental and political officials in the work of media in BiH is lessened, however, there is still unacceptably high degree of political pressure over the work of media.

The OHR Spokesperson, Alexandra Stiglemayer, stated that independency and quality of media in BiH were increased in the past few years. Stiglemayer at the same time condemned the continuation of pressures over media and journalists, which also include physical assaults.

The return of the Serb Democratic Party to the Government of the Republika Srpska and anti-constitutional rebellion of the Croat Democratic Community had particularly negative effect on the state in media. The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH expresses its concern about the expressed pressure of the RS authorities against media, particularly those financed from the public budgets.

Just for illustration, it is enough to mention the statement given by the Speaker of the People’s Assembly of the Republika Srpska, Dragan Kalinic, on 23 June, at the press conference held in Banja Luka, according to which in media that are financed by RS “changes will be made in accordance with the majority in the Assembly”. It is inadmissible practice that the steering boards of media outlets be the subject of inter-party agreements and opportunity for job of the party cadres as are the examples of the SRNA agency, Glas Srpski and Srpsko Oslobodjenja.

There is a drastic example of the manner of discharge of the Director of the SRNA Agency, Dragan Davidovic. It is strange that the RS Government nominates supervisory boards and directors of this agency. Davidovic himself has complained of being discharged due to constant pressures from SDS and its President, Dragan Kalinic, over the editorial policy of this house. “SDS and Kalinic were constantly asking for change of managing structure of SRNA and editorial policy”, states discharged Davidovic. The pressures and interference started already in February when the non-party steering board of SRNA was discharged.

The Independent Journalists’ Association of Republika Srpska /NUN RS/ stated through media in September that “they are ready to present to the Prime Minister, Mladen Ivanic, the proofs evidencing direct influence of the authorities over the media in RS”.

On that occasion, NUN of RS asked from the Bureau for Public Affairs of the Government of RS to mention the acts by which the RS Government “has defined its relationship towards media that should be fully in the function of the largest democratic public and without any political influence”, as Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic used to say on some occasions but never referring to any decree, decisions, law or platform, and therefore there is justified doubt of NUN that it was all about declarative support.

NUN asked from the RS Government to put in urgent procedure the Law on Media and Law on Radio-TV of RS, and to provide for freedom of media and their status as public services in the suggested legal solutions.

The case of the independent television D in Doboj illustrates the pressures exerted by SDS on media, especially local media. During the year, there was a real war waged for this TV house. When SDS did not succeed in conducting unlawful removal of the editor-in-chief, in August, there was a raid organised into this TV station and all the equipment was taken away, thus further transmitting was made impossible. Milan Ninkovic, President of the municipal board of SDS stated on that occasion that this TV station was a property of the party and that it wanted to sell it. On the other side, discharged editor-in-chief asserted that the party did not have any share in this media and it was the ownership of about fifty firms from the area of Doboj.

SDS, through various forms of pressures, also asked for change of concept of the SRNA agency, and daily Glas Srpski. In both houses, removals of leading staff took place, without explanation and arguments. Now, the influence of SDS is especially apparent in Glas Srpski.

The Help Line for Journalists (FREE MEDIA) testifies of further pressures, threats and physical assaults still being exerted against the editorial offices and journalists. From the beginning of anti-constitutional rebellion of HDZ and establishment of “Croatian Self-Rule”, the Help Line registered the alarming increase of complaints of journalists because of pressures exerted against them by the HDZ extremists.

The OSCE says that the Help Line for Journalists reported that journalists had been threatened by dismiss or removal in case they did not fulfil the demands. Therefore, each station asked that complaint remained as confidential to escape open threats and physical assaults.

The department for defence in Travnik sent a letter to the TNT radio stating that they “would visit and inspect the situation in the field of defence preparations (making plan of organisation and war actions up-to-date)”. Altough the Law on Defence contains principal regulations, which make such practice impossible, Ombudsmen, following the request of the mentioned radio to intervene, deemed that there was no any justification in applying the obligations for “organisation and preparations for defence” to media because it was in direct contradiction to the guaranteed constitutional freedom of press and to the right to freedom of expression provided for in the Article 10 of the European Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. They found out that identical obligations were being imposed to other media in almost all the cantons of FBiH, and therefore, recommended to the Parliament and the Federal Government, as well as to the parliaments and cantonal governments, to analyse the Law on Defence and to withdraw possible decisions regulating newspapers and commercial radio and television stations “of special importance for defence”. The Government of the Central Bosnia Canton accepted the recommendation of the Federation Ombudsmen and annulled war obligations to the Independent Radio TNT in Travnik.

We also registered the reaction of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) of the International Community in BiH and the OSCE Mission to BiH when they expressed their concern about the increasing number of complaints of the journalists of BiH because of political pressures over their work, with the biggest number of incidents assigned in one moment to the Social Democratic Party, a leading party in the Democratic Alliance for Changes, which is in power at the level of the state of BiH and the the Federation of BiH.

The Helsinki Committee has the information on direct involvement of the President of SDP and Prime Minister of BiH, Zlatko Lagumdzija in the editorial policy of the daily “Oslobodjenje”.

The representatives of media complained that they were not in a position to be present in the work of the entity governments and to report in proper manner. Instead of journalists, the governmantal offices for information, mainly through statements in which, sometimes, decisions of the governments are omitted, are doing the job of reporting.

On this occasiom, the OSCE Spokesperson also reacted, estimating the decision of the Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH, Alija Behmen, to communicate with media only through statements as “discouraging”.

As for the higher governmental levels, some cantonal governments applied the same rules for monitoring of their work.

Thus, the Government of the Tuzla Canton asked from the journalists to leave the session at the beginning of the meeting about the members of the Steering Board of the Cantonal RTV. The Government was of opinion that the public should not worry about who would lead the media house the existence of which has been secured from the taxpayers’ money. One of the then candidates for the Director of the RTV TK and, at the same time, assistant Minister for Education, Culture and Sport qualified the protests of the journalists because of its work behind the closed door as “journalists’ vanity”.

In Republika Srpska, only “selected” media can monitor the work of the assembly meetings. There is no place for others.

EXAMPLES OF VIOLATION OF PROFESSIONAL CODE – INFLAMMABLE LANGUAGE

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH states that, unfortunately, there are media even today that do not give up their inflammable language. Moreover, some of them base their concept of work on it. The appearance of Mostar-based “Dnevni list”, which in its heading has a message “first daily in BiH in Croatian language” is the best illustration of this statement. The Helsinki Committee deems that this daily by its concept, contents and language presents everyday threat to peace and co-existence to all the Bosnians and Herzegovinians. By its permanent heating-up of inter-ethnic tensions, insulting of religious and national feelings of other people, the daily “Dnevni list” presents threat to Croatian people in BiH, whom, allegedly, it wants to take under protection and to illuminate. The same estimate can be given for the Banja Luka-based weekly “Prst” that contains the darkest chauvinist propaganda.

The analysis of media in 2001 shows that apart from the above mentioned media there are still some media in the function of one nation or one party as well as those who have just changed a political party and leader in the function of which they act.

Radio Television of Republika Srpska in its programmes was returning to promotion of all Serbs in one country concept suggesting indirectly and in some cases even directly unsustainability of such BiH. When RTV RS was reporting on the cases of Serb chauvanism, minimum of information was given and reactions of the nationalistic parties were placed in order to reduce the importance of the character and effects of violent behaviour. Examples speaking in favour of this are the cases of reporting about the incidents that took place on the occasion of laying of stone foundations in Trebinje and Banja Luka.

In “Glas Srpski”, where the independent policy of this daily is absolutely threatened, a list of the Documentation Centre of the RS Government with the names of war criminals against Serbs was, among else, published, received from “confidential sources”. It directly threatened the freedom of movement of the mentioned persons throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.

10 May issue of “Avaz” published that a piece of the green flag with semi-moon and star was brought to the desk of Glas Srpski. Djordje Vukovic, one of the editors of this daily, brough it to the editorial office after the incident about Ferhadija.

12 September issue of “Srpsko Oslobodjenje”, on the occasion of the Jewish New Year, in the text with the title “Is the World Becoming Aware?” published several anti-Semite and unacceptable theses. It was written, inter alia, “Jews were being punished through the history rightfully”.

The Indipendent Journalists’ Association of Republika Srpska reacted by inviting all the democratic powers to prevent anti-Semite feelings, at the same time, warning that the mentioned text could be regarded as official attitude of the RS Government that finances the newspaper in which the text was published.

The terms in the text, such as “Jenki and Judes left the meeting in Durban as pissed off…”, “the bitch Madleine Olbrait”, “criminal and maniac Clark”…Sentence – “If they are not going to do it in this way, quickly and soon, we are convinced that the time will come when the Americans will have to collect their people around the world in more than five hundred its bases, to return their soldiers homes, of course, provided that their homes and state as it is now still be there”, seems horrific in media that are financed by all the citizens of RS.

The Communications Regulatory Agency (CRA) found only in the first three months of 2001, 43 cases of violation of the Code on Editing RTV programme, “being aware that pressures were being exerted on some media to broadcast materials the content of which was not in accordance with the Code.

We will mention only some of them.

Banja Luka-based RTV Sveti Georgije (St. George) was directly involved in campaigning the violence against the participants of unsuccessful occasion of laying of stone foundation for the mosque in Banja Luka, because of which its work licence was suspended for 90 days. During the contact programme, one listener said, “God willing, we shall do the same again, if they try to erect the mosque”, and the host only laughed. According to the CRA’s decision, RTV Sveti Georgije violated the stipulations of the Code of the Independent Media Commission relating to the contents of the programme, which strictly forbids programmes that would instigate religious hatred and intolerance, violence, protests and riots. A part of the Code on Editing the Programmes relating to the prohibition of editing the programmes that discredit members of other religions, as well as to the reliability and balancing of the programmes was also violated. With complete non-existence of the editorial or managing control, programme devaluated religious beliefs of others and increased a risk of new public protests. This, as well as other cases of violation of professional norms and standards is probably the cause why this radio finally did not get long-term licence for broadcasting the programme.

The host of radio Tomislavgrad, Iva Brcak, two days after the events with Hercegovacka bank, in her discussion with the Director of the Branch Office, Andja Bagaric, several times stressed the need that the citizens of Tomislavgrad attack the SFOR members during their action in that bank. The Director Bagaric joined that invitation for attack.

In the period from 28 March to 19 April, HTV Mostar broadcast several shows that may have, by its contents and open messages, broad consequences for peace in the Federation and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The most illustrative and “most radical” was an interview with the President of HNS, Anto Jelavic, who qualified the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zlatko Lagumdzija, to Zagreb, as “hypocrisy of a kind that the executioner of Croats, Mr. Zlatko Lagumdzija, is going to official visit to Zagreb, on the same day when he had sent tanks, transporters, armoured vehicles and Muslim hoods on the Croatian people in BiH”.

HTV Mostar in these days presented only one-sided and constantly biased views on the events in Herzegovina, and through these shows it violated the Code on Editing the Programmes. Therefore, it was not surprising that CRA pronounced one-month suspension for editing the programme, fourth in sequence since 2000. Radio Tomislavgrad, together with Radio Best from Grude and Radio Zepce was fined, while the Croatian RTV from Mostar got 90 days work suspension – all of them because of inflammable contents. Radio Herceg-Bosna also acted freely. It editorial concept is based on the union of the territories with the Croatian majority in BiH with the state of Croatia, thus ignoring the link with BiH.

It is quite clear that the HDZ put the largest number of electronic and written media in their service in the areas under their domination, and these media justified unconstitutional behaviour of HDZ as well as the establishment of the “Croatian Self-Rule”. HDZ was also insisting on unsustainability of such concept of BiH by supporting the third entity for the BiH Croats, advocating for all Croats be connected and encouraging the intolerance towards other peoples and the international peace mission.

Our monitor reported on an abrupt hypocritical change in the editorial policy of electronic media under the control of the national parties (especially HDZ) in the Mostar region at the time of announcement of competition for obtaining long-term broadcasting licenses.

Other monitors warn of low professional level (not only) in local media, and of the non-respect for the rules on keeping the names and surnames of minors in delicate situation in secret as well as of people who are under police investigation, and of proclaiming people guilty before court judgments are passed.

On this occasion, the Helsinki Committee turns attention to increasing number of incorrect and often non-argument articles and enclosures about journalists and media workers from other environments and competitors, thus forgetting about the respect for profession in general.

The real media war in Mostar is waged between eastern and western media. According to our monitor, for either of them nothing is in order.

Division of media between those in service of the Party of Democratic Action and those under the protection of the Democratic People’s Community is also a characteristic of Una-Sana Canton, reports the monitor of the Helsinki Commitete. 

PHYSICAL ASSAULTS

During the 2001, the journalists and media were exposed to various forms of pressures, threats, blackmails, and even physical assaults. Unfortunately, the same as in previous years, the largest number of perpetrators have never been discovered, let alone sanctioned.

It sounds incredible, but even two years after the investigation of the attempted murder of Zeljko Kopanja, editor-in-chief and owner of the “Nezavisne novine” gave no results, which has incalculable consequences on freedom of public word. The Helsinki Committee expresses its discontent and concern with slowliness of competent bodies in lighting up the case. During the year, some of the non-governmental organisations expressed their doubt relating to the investigation as a conscious obstruction of the persons in charge.

The member of the Board of Directors of the Committee for Protection of Journalists /CPJ) in the USA, Ketty Morton, has confirmed that there were some indications showing that the Government of the Republika Srpska has an influence on slowing down the investigation. The representatives of the Serb Democratic Party returned to the Government of RS. The IPTF Inspector, Paul Young, said that he was concerned about the slowliness of the investigation, emphasising that it was a complicated case and that the person in charge of this case was removed without any explanation.

In January, in Vilsonovo setaliste (Vilsonovo promenade) a journalist of the magazine “START” BiH, Kristijan Ivelic, was assaulted. His head and jaw were injured, and two teeth broken. Such assault could have been expected when the magazine started publishing feuilleton under the name “Specialist in Jaws of SDA”, the author of which was Ivelic. Before the attack he was receiving anonymous phone threats, e-mail messages with similar contents, later on to be called for questioning in the Federal Ministry of Interior relating to the part of the feuilleton speaking of murders of 12 members of the Yugoslav Army in the Grand park in Sarajevo in 1992. In order to prevent assaults against their journalist, START BiH informed about all the OSCE Help Line for Journalists, the Journalists’ Association of BiH, and the Independent Union of Professional Journalists, however, until the day of assault, there were no reactions. The assailants, while leaving, said to him: “Kris, Ustasha, see you again”.

At the beginning of March, the folk composer and singer, Nazif Gljiva physically assaulted the journalist of “Oslobodjenje”, Arman Sarkic, because of written and published text in this daily under the name “Show of kitsch and petty bourgeois inflicted a severe stroke to BiH musical scene”.

Twenty days later, Marko Bekovic Balkan, former President of the local HDZ and Mayor of Orasje brutally assaulted Mika Damjanovic, journalist of “Dnevni avaz” and cameraman and reporter of the FTV in Orasje. Carlos Westendeorp removed Bekovic.

Benkovic inflicted serious injuries to Damjanovic. Following a series of verbal threats, swearing him as national traitor, insulting journalists and the profession of journalists, stating that all that was rubbish, Benkovic hit Damjanovic into his head. After many strokes, the assualted journalist finished in the hospital. After the surgery done on his head, he was sent home for further curing. Former President of HDZ in Orasje is well known by his violent behaviour, but it is not known whether he was ever processed or deemed accountable for his deeds.

Milo Jukic, a journalist and a correspondent of the Voice of America in their BH Service was brutally interrupted while he was recording dzuma-namaz in King Fahd mosque in Sarajevo. While he was recording former President of the BiH Federation, Ejup Ganic, entering the mosque with the rest of the congregation, Jukic was approached by a group of people who asked him to present his authorisation to record. After he presented his Voice of America accreditaion, Jukic was asked to hand over the tape from the camera. In meantime, a large number of people gathered around, throwing religion and ethnic-based insulates at the journalists.

A couple of policemen from the Novi Grad Police Precinct tried to take Jukic away from the crowd. When one of the people tried to snatch Jukic’s camera, he handed the tape. On Jukic’s request to be issued a certificate of confiscation, one of the people present there, a man called Mubarak, instructed Jukic to come to his office after the dzuma-namaz. In Mubarak’s office, who is by the way the Director of the King Fahd Mosque Complex, Jukic was told that the mosque and the area around it were the territory of Saudi Arabia, that this act was an attack against that country, and that he was not allowed to record there without his approval. After one of the policemen in Jukic’s escort, officer Zvonimir Grubesic, informed Mubarak that recording in the area of the mosque was not forbidden, the director of the mosque complex responded by checking the identification of officer Grubesic, and taking from him the telephone number and address of the Novi Grad Police Precinct.

On the occasion of laying of the foundation stone for reconstruction of Omerpasina mosque on 4 May, the journalist of TV Hayat from Sarajevo, Kenan Cerimagic was beaten up and three days later in Banja Luka, on the occasion of laying of foundation stone for reconstruction of Ferhadija mosque, Nenad Bozovic, a photographer of “Avaz” was beaten up as well. A policeman with shield saved the journalist of “Avaz”, Almasa Bajric, from injuries.

The targets of attacks of the protesters who on that day prevented laying of foundation stone for reconstruction of Ferhadija mosque were also other journalists and photographers.

Zoran Vitorovic, reporter of Radio Deutsche Welle, one of the injured journalists, stated for “Nezavisne novine” that he had been hit in his head with a tomatoes in which there was a piece of metal.

The equipment to the value of 20,000 KM was taken away from a cameraman and reporter of “Magnum”, Paul Lowe. Cameraman and reporters of “Nezavisne novine, “Reporter”, “Glas Srpski”… were also hit by stones, eggs and potatoes. The similar things happened to the cameramen of ATV, “Nazavisna televizija”, “ZDF” and the correspondents from ONASA and AP. Journalists and cameramen from the Federation of BiH were particularly targets of assaults. The editorial office of the Contact Programme stated that the demonstrators provoked their reporter and that a group of drunk young men on that day around the midnight tried to enter by force the premises of radio, threatening and insulting the members of the editorial office.

On 15 May, the members of the police station in Tuzla instituted minor offence proceedings against the former basketball judge, now the owner of the Lewis shop in Tuzla, Zdravko Kurilic, because of assault against the journalist of “Jutarnje novine”, Miroslav Petrovic. Kurilic, without any reason, first verbally then physically assaulted journalist Petrovic and threatened that he would kill him “because he touched his family”. In one of his texts, Petrovic “touched Kurilic’s family” by saying that a basketball player of Sloboda Dita, Davor Kurilic, did not prove to be “of great assistance from Cibona”

A Belgium TV crew (RTBF) was assaulted on the road Pale-Sarajevo, and an unknown assailant took away by force their camera, along with the tape with pictures of the war criminal, Radovan Karadzic. On their return to Sarajevo, the Belgium TV crew’s car was blocked in a tunnel, and the armed assailant pointed the gun at the head of the cameraman Mario Gregov, who then handed him the camera with the cassette.

A waiter, Ferid Dervisevic Fedza, physically assaulted a journalist of “Oslobodjenje” Elvir Basic in a catering facility in Zenica and continued issuing threats and insults in the presence of police. The journalist was trying to investigate the complaints of citizens who claimed that the coffee shop “Macao”, owned by Social Democratic Party, had been rented to Dervisevic. Only several days later (according to “Oslobodjenje”), Dervisevic’s employee issued death threats to the same journalist.

The former selector of the national basketball team, Sabit Hadzic, under the influence of alcohol, verbally attacked a journalist of BiH TV, Sabahudin Baho Topalbecirevic, irritated by his comments on the failure of the national team during the recent championship of Europe and Hadzic’s responsibility for that. When insulting the BiH journalist, Hadzic also broke Topalbecirevic’s cellular phone.

In the mid of October, former President of the Croat Democratic Union in Usora, Ivica Artmagic, attacked and beaten Boro Jelic, journalist of Radio Station Usora and correspondent of “Hrvatski Radio Herceg-Bosna” and of Split-based “Slobodna Dalmacija”. On that occasion, Jelic suffered nose and shoulder injuries. The journalist was saved from more serious bodily harm by a police patrol. Artmagic had previously threatened to radio station Usora in event it was publishing police statements on numerous offences and crimes which Artmagic, the notorious ruffian, had committed.

In November, on official duty, a cameraman of “Oslobodjenje”, Amer Kajmovic was physically assaulted in the settlement of Grbavica. When trying to make photographs on the place where shooting had taken place, a policeman in uniform hit Kalmovic with his leg, demanding from him to give him his camera. The officers in charge of the Ministry of Interior condemned such act of their officer and undertook disciplinary measures.

THREATS, PRESSURES AND BLACKMAILS

The editorial boards and journalists are still subject to pressures, threats and physical assaults. Since the establishment of the on-line help for journalists (FREE MEDIA), there were registered 245 complaints, while from 1 January to mid November of this year, there were 96 journalists complaining, of which 56 in the Federation of BiH, 33 in Republika Srpska and 2 in the District of Brcko.

Internews BiH and the School of Political Sciences in Sarajevo published at the end of the year the results of the survey called “Pressures Against Electronic Media for the January-November 2001 Period”. Out of 240 radio and TV stations in private and public ownership (137 in the Federation of BiH, 98 in RS and 5 in Brcko District) that were sent questionnaires, 222 submitted their replies, and according to the results, the response was 92%. Out of the total number of 114 stations, (51,35%) were exposed to one or several forms of pressures. Out of the total number of stations, 222, 78 of them received in total 1,278 threat phone calls, 19 of them received threat letters or messages, 30 of them had 54 extraordinary financial controls, 39 had 55 court cases related to the nature of job, in 37 cases the equipment was damaged in 27 of them, three stations had five cases of confiscation of video/audio/printed materials by the authorities, 36 of them had 213 cases in total of limited movement or were banned to access the place during the reporting, in 23 stations there were 174 cases in which clients stopped or ceased to advertise due to the programme concept of the station, and even 30 stations had 52 cases of physical assaults related to the job of the radio and TV employees. Six stations sent objections for the CRA’s work and 13 for representatives of the local authorities.

With the beginning of anti-constitutional rebellion of HDZ and establishment of the “Croatian self-rule”, there is recorded an alarming increase in the number of journalists’ complaints because of pressures against them by HDZ extremists.

In February, a journalist of Zagreb-based “Vecernji list”, Nikola Trogrlic, wrote on the occasion of the opening of a school in Boka near Orasje, that a hand-bag of the wife of the Police Minister, Mate Jozic, was stolen. Following the event, a local official called him and criticised his writing about the Minister’s wife!? Soon afterwards, Trogrlic, again in “Vecernji list” described the action of closing several coffee shops the owners of which did not pay tax. After the publishment of the text, according to Trogrlic, protests were repeated, this time by the Minister of Police of Pasavina Canton, Mate Jozic. “I am surprised with permanents protests of the police officers, who prescribe what and how to write”, said Trogrlic. He added it was not for the first time that he was threatened.

At the beginning of February, the Independent Association of Journalists of Republika Srpska most strongly condemned anonymous threats issued to journalists and editors of “Glas Srpski” and “Republika”. The statements maintain that the threats are not only verbal, but that they are directed towards personal safety of journalists and editors of the Banja Luka-based newspapers. Local police was criticised for its failure to protect journalists and media.

In Prijedor, on 10 March, an explosive device destroyed a car of Rezak Hukovic, the owner and journalist of “Nezavisna televizija 101” (Independent Television 101) from Sanski Most. It was typical sign of intimidation and threat to freedom of public word. The explosion also destroyed the windows on the surrounding buildings, but luckily there were no casualties.

In March, the municipal board of the Party of Serb Unity in Doboj accused Banja Luka-based “Nezavisne novine” of being full of lies and slanders against those who do not think like their owner and their foreign mentors and announced an action under the name “STOP TO INDEPENDENT”!

“In the first days of April, the rising generation of the Party of Serb Unity (SSJ) will organise a great cleansing of NN (Independent Newspapers) from the Doboj streets, which will be later on spread on the entire RS as well as BiH”, reads the statement.

On the same day when the Party of Serb Unity issued the statement, the owner of “Nezavisne novine”, Kopanja received a letter with a death threat.

We also registered various forms of pressures and intimidations issued to Ivan Lovrenovic, BiH writer and journalist because of his texts and public word based on the need for tolerance, co-existence and cultural reconstruction of BiH society. The Steering Board of PEN Centre in Sarajevo sent an appeal to all relevant institutions of the state to take care of the security of the writer and journalist, Ivan Lovrenovic, to whom threats had been issued that could endanger his and his family’s lives. Prior to this, PEN Centre of Sweden had reacted against, as claimed the PEN Centre of Sweden, threats issued to Lovrenovic by the highest Catholic Church officials, adding that Catholic journalists and associations had largely attacked Lovrenovic. It was also maintained that Lovrenovic’s wife had received a phone call on 31 August with threat of “slaughter and rape for the whole family of Lovrenovic. The Independent Union of Professional Journalists joined in condemning such thretas.

The leaders of the Catholic Church in BiH denied any connection with the threats. Lovrenovic is a columnist of several media outlets in BiH and abroad, uncompromisingly critical of Croat and every other nationalism and hegemony, and in that context a sharp commentator of cleric-ethnic policy of Catholic Church in BiH which is to a great extent at the service of the Croat Democratic Union extremists.

According to our monitor, Croatian nationalists issued written threats to the President of the Council of Radio Television of the Federation of BiH and columnist of “Oslobodjenje” Slavo Kukic. The local police in Tuzla offered to watch the apartment of Marinko Sekulic Kokezi, reporter of the Tuzla-based Radio Deutsche Welle, after threats he had received from Munira Subasic and Hatidza Mehmedovic, members of the Association of “Mothers of Enclaves of Zepa and Srebrenica. A day earlier, Sekulic published a comment about, as he said, the “scandal” that had taken place on the terrace of the hotel “Lovac” in Srebrenica, quoting that Subasic and Mehmedovic and some other members of the association were initiators of “getting-together” along with the roasting-spit, drinks and music within the framework of the preparations for holding of commemoration of Potocari near Srebrenica on 11 July, on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone for the memorial complex to the victims of massacre over more than eight thousand Bosniaks by Serb Army.

On this occasion, we remind of the statement of Vakuf Directorate, conveyed by the Sarajevo-based news agency MINA (Muslim News Agency), which contained, inter alia, threats to media for critical articles and the publishing of reactions relating to the issue of restitution of Vakuf property. After “Dnevni avaz” correctly reported the opinion of the BiH Federation Government on the Draft Law on Restitution of Property, the Vakuf Directorate sent a message: “Gentlemen from the government and media, do not forget that you are playing with fire…” Vakuf Directorate had previously sent direct written threats to the columnist of “Oslobodjenje”, Zija Dizdarevic, in their reply published in the same paper, to his analytical article, saying that he will be punished “both in this and the other world” because of his texts.

We also recorded that a petition against the magazines “Dani” and “Slobodna Bosna” were organised by the Islamic Youth magazine “Saff” and the Association of the Citizens “Mladi Muslimani” (Young Muslims). Both magazines were recorded as anti-Muslim, and the petition asked from these two editorial offices to apologize to Muslims because of “caused insults”.

The Helsinki Committee during the year warned that the leaders of the most powerful party in the Alliance made pressures against some media and editors-in-chiefs. We particularly warned of the pressures exerted by the President of SDP against the people of the daily “Oslobodjenje”.

In the mid of October, in Sarajevo, a former policeman threatened a journalist of “Oslobodjenje”, Vedrana Zivak, because she published the text in which an accident in which four-year old boy, Almir Kolasinac, had been killed in 1995.

A councilor of the Party of Democratic Action in the municipal council of Novo Sarajevo, Ibrahim Dervisevic, threatened by liquidation the journalist of “Oslobodjenje”, Almir Terzic, before the members of the Interior Ministry of the Sarajevo Canton on 30 October. Terzic addressed the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH, Interior Ministry of the Canton of Sarajevo, SDA’s spokesman, Vice President of the SDA as well as to the Association of Journalists of BiH, claiming that Dervisevic had offered him money not to oppose his illegal acts. Terzic further states that the threats were issued before witnesses and the police that did not react. At the beginning of November, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH asked from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Canton of Sarajevo to protect the journalist of “Oslobodjenje”, Almir Terzic.

At the same time, a group of unidentified “citizens” assaulted TV crew of the Republika Srpska in the Sarajevan settlement Dobrinja.

At the end of the year, anonymous perpetrators raided into the premises of the editorial board of the magazine Start BiH and took away some technical devices and equipment thus making the work of the journalists more difficult as well as publishing the magazine.

The monitor from Tomislavgrad reported that the journalist Ljuba Djikic was exposed to threats of being lynched, after her son Ivica Djikic, himself also a journalist, had written in Feral Tribune of his opinion about the situation and the people in the area.

The monitor of the Helsinki Committee from Trebinje informed of a case in which a journalist of TV Trebinje, Biljana Bokic, was exposed to serious intimidation and threats after having made two stories about one socially endangered and handicapped citizen.

The OSCE Mission to BiH asked from the then member of the Presidency, Halid Genjac, to take steps to moderate the behavior of his advisor, Ademir Jerkovic, who had on several occasions exerted verbal pressures against the journalist of the BH Press, the journalist Emir Felic, unreasonably demanding from Felic to promote Jerkovic in protocolar news.

The programme Board of the Radio TV of Mostar (Federation of BiH – central Herzegovina) expressed its astonishment because of arogant and violent behaviour towards the media when a driver and bodyguard of the Mayor of Mostar, Neven Tomic, attacked and issued threats to the team of the RTV Mostar. In an open letter of RTV Mostar it is said that their crew had asked for statement to be given by Tomic on the occasion of celebration of the Statehood day of the neighbouring Republic of Croatia in the western part of Mostar (RTV Mostar is located in the eastern part of the city where the Bosniaks are majority – editor’s note). Tomic’s driver and bodyguard considered that demand as provocation and sent “brutal threats” to journalists of RTV Mostar. The Mayor, Tomic, neither protected the journalists nor gave the statement.

“You will keep silent either dead or alive” was a message sent for many times to the journalist of the Prijedor-based “Kozarski vjesnik”, Zoran Sovilj. After that, in the night between 20 and 21 November, a bomb exploded in front of the house door. Luckily, there were no casualties, but the message of threat and intimidation was uttered for journalists to prevent them from performing their job. One more in a series of terrorist attempts to hamper the freedom of public word. Sovilj was writing about trafficking in women in Prijedor and its surrounding.

ECONOMIC-SOCIAL POSITION OF MEDIA AND JOURNALISTS

Due to overall social and economic conditions, the public media are in extremely difficult situation. Such a situation is primarily a consequence of financial crisis and bad position of employees, unsolved relations as to property, failures in privatisation, even malversations, non-existence of collective and individual contract, chaotic and disintegrated media market and a series of strikes during the last year.

The workers of the independent television ZETEL from Zenica began legal action against the Director and the owner of this house, Zeljko Lincner, because of unpaid salaries to the total amount of approximately 200,000 KM (DEM)

In March, the workers of radio Mrkonjic Grad went on strike demanding their due salaries to be paid. There are few media, financed from the municipal or cantonal budget, that have regular salaries.

A situation is similar in private media since there are no contracts that would protect the workers from irresponsible owners.

Only few days after the observation of the International Day of Freedom of Media, about hundred workers of the oldest daily “Oslobodjenje” went on strike in May because of outstanding salaries and contributions in Social and Health Fund. The management of the paper reduced the salaries by 20 percent without the knowledge of the Trade Union. After the failed negotiations with the management, the workers demanded full salaries and for long time expected individual lists of post war outstanding payments.

“Undervaluation and feudal methods of exploitation of journalists being in practice here for years must be stopped”, was the message of the Association of Journalists of BiH on this occasion.

After the six-day strike, the representatives of Trade Union and the Supervisory Board of “Oslobodjenje” reached an agreement that full salaries for April be paid, that the outstanding contributions be paid in the Social and Health Fund, that editor-in-chief be removed from duty, that new Supervisrory Boartd be established and new management of this share-holding company be appointed and that preparations for signing of the collective contract be started. The workers of “Oslobodjenje” demanded also that the process of privatisation be reviewed and that the financial police check the business operations from 1992 onwards. The paper started appearing on the market again.

Unfortunately, after a temporary pause the agony of “Oslobodjenje” continues and the position of this daily is extremely difficult even today. In November, the office of the Director General was handed over to a new man coming from – “Kmecke druzbe”, major shareholders, from Slovenia, and the newspaper is now printed in Alden Print instead in OKO, a printing company that has now become property of “Dnevni avaz”. Criminal charges were instituted for abuse of office against the former Director and Deputy Director.

Twenty workers of Radio Brcko District refused to receive May salary that was cut by 50 percent by the decision of the Director Sead Buric. The workers said that it was not the only reason for their revolt, but the fact that the Director did not offer any plan for development of this multi-ethnic media outlet. Only 60,000 KM (DEM) were earmarked for this radio from the budget of the District, which is sufficient only for two monthly salaries.

Due to unresolved status and three-year waiting for it to be resolved, the media outlets from Gorazde stopped broadcasting the programme. In their demands sent to the management, Supervisory Board as well as to the municipal and cantonal authorities, they asked for the outstanding salaries to be paid (the last salary at that moment was the February salary) and status of Gorazde radio and television to be resolved. RTV Gorazde operates within the Public Institution Center for Culture. Three years ago, the Supervisory Board of this house gave initiative for their division. Since then, the representatives of the municipality of Gorazde as well as of the founder of Bosanko-Podrinje Canton Gorazde as investor of construction of the facility for transmitters and releys can not agree whether only television, RTV or RTV and newspaper “Glas Gorazda” should come under competence of the Canton. Due to unbearable economic situation, the workers decided to go on general strike.

The Mayor of the municipality of Gorazde, Mersudin Kozo then announced that he would ask from the management of the Center for Culture to institute criminal charges against the workers of RTV who had gone on strike. In his statement for local Radio Praca, he qualified the strike of 24 workers as arrogance.

The Steering Board, headed by Dzevad Terovic, announced dismissals. “You are on the first place workers of the administrative bodies and only than journalists. You action means automatically dissmisal, and the employer has the right to ask for compensation of the damage that appeared in meantime, stated the president of the Trade Union of the administrative body of the FBiH, Murat Seceragic.

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH condemned all the attempts of blackmail and threats against the workers of RTV Gorazde on strike and invited the Government and the Assembly of Bosansko Podrinje Canton to resolve the issue of their status as soon as possible. Unfortunately, their status has not been resolved until the end of the year.

Dnevni Avaz continues with its expansion and editorial emancipation, although it is now becoming obvious that instead of the former links with SDA, it has formed special links with SDP.

“Alden Print” company that had bought a daily “Vecernje novine” in May 2000, asked from the Agency for Privatisation in February 2001 to terminate the Sales Contract by consent. The reason for such request was the unsettled debts towards the prize-winning readers, based on the legally binding court judgments, which had not been presented in the initial balance of “Vecernje novine”.

Concurrently with the request, the buyer submitted information that it started publishing the paper “Jutarnje novine”, with the remark that all the workers of “Vecernje novine” are involved in the project. The Agency rejected the offered request and ordered to the Buyer to submit complete documentation by which the manner and time of creation of debit-credit relations were to be identified, as well as to engage the independent auditor to find out how “Alden print” was managing with “Vecernje novine” after the execution of the Sales Contract. The Agency for Privatisation gave a statement already in April when it postponed decision-making on termination of the Contract with “Alden print”, buyer of “Vecernje novine” by consent, and gave explanation that the auditing of the operation was still in course, and that only after obtaining all the relevant indicators, the final decision on how to resolve the existing situation would be made.

Old shareholders, former workers of “Vecernje novine”, dissapeared from the ownership books and shareholders lists. The situation in “Jutarnje novine is still completely unclear since the paper has been created and published under doubtful circumstances. There were obviously some failures in the procedure of privatization of “Vecernje Novine”. It is uclear even today how the new newspaper was created on the basis of the equipment, premises and staff of the previous newspaper. Presently, the workers are not receiving salaries; the editorial office has been relocated from the former premises, personnel has been scattered around… and no one renders the account.

Without legally regulated status and protection of journalists and other media workers in respect to the founders and employers, it is difficult to expect faster democratization of media and protection of dignity of journalists who struggle not only for public word but also for bare existence.

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH, together with the representatives of media and their associations, and other non-governmental and international associations will be actively engaged in improving the state in this field, which is of crucial significance for affirmation and protection of human rights and freedoms.

CONCLUSION

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH deems that legal regulation in respect to the access to information and non-punishment of libel, as well as to self-regulation in printed media by establishment of the Press Council are of great significance. Unfortunately, as for the access to information, there are no needed active relations between the holders of authorities at all the levels and the journalists who inadequately use this possibility to better inform the public and to develop analytical and research journalism.

Of special concern is the continuation of manipulation with media outlets. The journalists and editorial boards, as well as their families are being blackmailed, especially at the local levels, pressurised and threatened even with death. The governmental authorities, not even in the territory with the Democratic Alliance for Changes in power, do not react adequately to such situations and encourage the atmosphere of fear. Moreover, we have examples of direct pressures exerted by the Alliance on media, from the person and party positions.

A few media at the local level were in service of reconstruction of inter-ethnic intolerance and maintenance of the logic of segregation and the practice of apartheid, which was particularly expressed in the activities relating to the establishment of the “Croat Self-Rule” and then, on the occasion of laying of foundation stone for the mosques in Trebinje and Banja luka. Some media outlets in RS and in HDZ controlled territories, as well as in Sarajevo, are continuously using the language of hatred. The reactions of the democratic public against it are sporadic.

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights on this occasion as well criticizes the international peace mission and particularly the OHR because of irresponsible actions in the process of restructuring of RTV BiH, because of horizontal and vertical flow of information and other program contents throughout the country, which is an important element for the normalisation and democratisation of the BiH society, encouragement of tolerance and return of confidence among the peoples and citizens.

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH is inviting the journalists, editorial boards, journalists’ and other media associations as well as the trade unions to homogenize their activities in order to strengthen their social position, economic and professional basis for their work. That would mean, inter alia, that the conditions will be improved for systematic and better quality monitoring of the area of human rights and freedoms in BiH as a key factor of the peace process in BiH and its democratic transformation.

No.: 07A-01/2002

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