(Freedom House/IFEX) – The following is a letter to the Editor of the New York Times from Leonard Sussman on press controls in Bosnia. It was printed 27 April 1998: 24 April 1998 To the Editor: The new press-control agency in Bosnia created by the United States and its allies seems to be outrageous censorship, […]
(Freedom House/IFEX) – The following is a letter to the Editor of the New
York Times from Leonard Sussman on press controls in Bosnia. It was printed
27 April 1998:
24 April 1998
To the Editor:
The new press-control agency in Bosnia created by the United States and its
allies seems to be outrageous censorship, but it is not (news article, 24
April). The local radio and television have carried blatant calls to
continued genocide and ending of the fragile peace. These press controls are
therefore not a violation of press freedom, they are a human rights measure.
Other developing countries should not regard this step as fulfilling demands
for just such restrictions that dominated international discourse in the
1980s. Bosnia, by treaty, is a militarily occupied country. If authoritarian
rulers see censorship in Bosnia as their model, they should ponder whether
they, too, favor military occupation to establish domestic peace.
Leonard R. Sussman
Freedom House
