Safety: do journalists need special treatment?

I like the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity for two reasons.

First, because it aims to be a plan of action.

Second, because it recognises the need for “special treatment” for journalists - meaning they should be given a chance at least not to be killed for doing their work in the interest of their audiences and of society at large.

This recognition can be noticed in a couple of recent international papers at intergovernmental level. The UN Human Rights Council on 27 September for the first time affirmed the importance of journalist safety as a fundamental element of freedom of expression. The 47-member body passed by consensus a resolution sponsored by Austria that called on states to “promote a safe and enabling environment for journalists to perform their work independently” and to fight impunity by ensuring “impartial, speedy and effective investigations” into acts of violence against journalists.

What makes that all the more noteworthy is the fact that the International Press Institute, among other civil society groups and NGOs, provided input to the drafting of the resolution, which also reminded states of the importance of a free press to democracy and development.

UNESCO has been making an important contribution to the issue for many years. Together with Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), it has been publishing a regular practical guide for journalists working in conflict zones. It is now available in 10 languages. In 2008 it also co-authored a UN Charter for the Safety of Journalists Working in War Zones or Dangerous Areas, which includes a commitment by the media, public authorities and journalists to systematically seek ways to reduce the risks.

Unfortunately the understanding of what “special treatment” for journalists should be still differs between UN member states. At the International Press Institute (IPI), we have had plenty of chances to see it during our many missions to the Philippines, Bangladesh, Russia… the list is quite long. ‘Local differences’ can all too often be summarised as the growing patterns of violence and legal harassment of media people.

My home country of Russia has a long-standing reputation as a ‘journalist-unfriendly’ place. The 2011 Freedom of the Press report ranked Russia 173rd out of 196 countries. The names of Dmitry Holodov, Paul Hlebnikov, Igor Domnikov, Anna Politkovskaya, Yury Shekochihin, Larisa Yudina and Natalya Estemirova are now symbolic for world human rights and press freedom advocates.

There are also many names which are less well known outside Russia: Vladimir Kirsanov from Kurgan, Eduard Markevich from Sverdlovsk, Aleksei Sidorov from Tolyatti - all of them worked in the regional media. Forty-three journalists have died in Russia since the beginning of 2000, including four in 2011, and already three in 2012.

In the first 10 months of last year, more than 150 journalists were threatened or attacked.

A well-known journalist and human rights activist, Hadzhimurad Kamalov, was killed in Dagestan (one of the Caucasian republics of Russia) last December, on the very day when journalist organisations all over Russia were paying tribute to colleagues who had perished due to their work in past 20 years. Another 10 assaults against journalists have been monitored since 1September this year.

Impunity surrounds even the most prominent cases. At the Foundation for Investigative Journalism - Foundation 19/29, we have recently launched an ‘Investigation into Investigation’ - an attempt to monitor the state of official investigations into crimes against journalists in Russia.

Seventy per cent of assaults against journalists in Russia are work-related. The figures speak for themselves. Official investigations and court proceedings usually last for five to seven years. If the death of a journalist is not related to his or her job, there is a 90% chance of a guilty conviction. When the death of a journalist is attributed to professional matters, the acquittal rate is 50%.

I’m often asked if the situation is changing. It is. For the worse.

During the spring protest marches against fraud in the recent parliamentary and presidential elections in Russia, I witnessed how police officers treated my colleagues who were wearing special vests with PRESS on them. Journalists covering the protests were the first to be picked up from the crowd; first to be arrested; and definitely the first to be beaten by the police.

New laws hastily enacted by the Putin regime this summer sanction gigantic fines for demonstrations and meetings. And new NGO legislation practically disables those receiving foreign funding. Defamation has been returned to the criminal code (six months after being decriminalised by then President Medvedev). Crackdown is on the way.

Last autumn I conducted a seminar at Moscow State University School of Journalism for students interested in journalist investigations. Thirteen students attended: two boys and 11 girls. And that is characteristic of the profession nowadays. First, journalism in Russia, and especially ‘field journalism’, as well as investigations have become a female job. The reason is simple: it is low paid and it is dangerous. Fewer students, even among those who have taken journalism as their main course, would like to make it their profession. And even less want to become investigative journalists. But those who do are the best.

So what would be the impact on the Russian and like governments of the idea listed in the UN Plan to incorporate the safety of journalists and the impunity of attacks against them into UN strategies at country level?

I am not optimistic.

And even less about this idea: “UN agencies can encourage member state cooperation and sharing of best practices, as well as exercise ‘quiet diplomacy’ with member states when necessary.”

It is time, probably, for our international journalist community to exercise ‘loud diplomacy’ with regard to safety and impunity.

And that is why we meet in London at the kind invitation of the BBC College of Journalism and the Centre for Freedom of the Media of the University of Sheffield to discuss matters of life and death - and, I hope, to come forward with proposals on how best to respond to the UN Plan which will be discussed at a special meeting in Vienna from 22 to 23 November.

Galina Sidorova is a former editor-in-chief of Sovershenno Secretno, an independent Russian magazine specialising in journalist investigations. She is chair of the board of founders of the Russian Foundation for Investigative Journalism - Foundation 19-29 and chair of the executive board of the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI).