(IPI/IFEX) – The following is a letter written to William S. Cohen, U.S. Secretary of Defense, regarding the creation of a press control agency in Bosnia- Herzegovina. Vienna, 3 May 1998 Dear Mr. Secretary, The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and media executives, is most concerned over plans by the United […]
(IPI/IFEX) – The following is a letter written to William S. Cohen, U.S.
Secretary of Defense, regarding the creation of a press control agency in
Bosnia- Herzegovina.
Vienna, 3 May 1998
Dear Mr. Secretary,
The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and
media executives, is most concerned over plans by the United States and its
allies to create a press-control agency in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
We understand that the proposed “Intermediate Media Standards and Licensing
Commission”, which will be partly financed by the United States, is charged
with drafting new laws to regulate broadcast outlets in Bosnia and will have
the power to close radio and television stations and punish–financially and
otherwise– newspapers that it decides are engaged in “poisonous
propaganda”.
While IPI understands that the Western allies’ are concerned that
inflammatory propaganda could threaten the safety of their peacekeeping
forces, and also recognizes the well-meaning intention of trying to create a
mechanism by which the media in Bosnia will be able to function along
internationally accepted standards, we are deeply concerned about any
attempt by an alliance of democratic nations to impose restraints on the
media in another country.
A free and unfettered flow of news and information is essential to the
development of democracy in Bosnia-Herzegovina and elsewhere. By attempting
to control the news that media outlets publish and broadcast, the proposed
agency runs the risk of suppressing legitimate news and opinion and would
set a dangerous precedent for authoritarian governments desiring to curb
news media.
IPI is also disturbed that the United States should be involved in the
establishment of what amounts to a censorship panel. Rather than suppressing
freedom of opinion and expression, the U.S. should be seen to be upholding
the principles of freedom of speech and press freedom, as embodied not only
in the First Amendment to the Constitution, but also in Article 19 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that everyone has the
right “to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
IPI therefore urges you to do everything in your power to ensure that the
United States does not resort to setting up a mechanism that could result in
the restriction of the media’s right to freely gather and distribute
news and information.
We thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director
Appeals To
Similar appeals can be sent to:
Mr. William S. Cohen
Secretary of Defense
Department of Defense
Washington, D.C.
USA
