(WAN/IFEX) – On 19 and 20 September 1997, an international conference, “Belarusian Media: Distinguishing Features of Legislation, the Rights and Duties of Journalists”, took place in Minsk, attracting nearly 100 participants. It was sponsored by the Belarusian Association of Journalists; the Council of Europe, Strasbourg; and the World Association of Newspapers, Paris, with the participation […]
(WAN/IFEX) – On 19 and 20 September 1997, an international
conference, “Belarusian Media: Distinguishing Features of
Legislation, the Rights and Duties of Journalists”, took place in
Minsk, attracting nearly 100 participants. It was sponsored by
the Belarusian Association of Journalists; the Council of Europe,
Strasbourg; and the World Association of Newspapers, Paris, with
the participation of: ARTICLE 19, London; Glasnost Defense
Foundation, Moscow; and the Union of Journalists, Moscow.
The conference adopted two resolutions, authored by the
Belarusian Association of Journalists:
Resolution 1: “We, participants at the international conference
‘Belarusian Media: Distinguishing Features of Legislation, the
Rights and Duties of Journalists’ are strongly indignant at the
Belarusian authorities’ repressive actions with regard to our
colleague, Russian Public Television (ORT) journalist Pavel
Sheremet, and the other members of his film crew. We believe that
the so-called Pavel Sheremet case is a continuation of the
campaign of intimidation and harassment of journalists
disagreeable to the authorities, and other flagrant violation of
freedom of the press and human rights. In the event, that the
investigation of this case ends with a trial, we call on public
organisations and editorial staffs to support the initiative of
the Council of the Belarusian Association of Journalists to elect
a public counsel to represent Pavel Sheremet and his colleagues
in court. We demand that Pavel Sheremet be immediately released
from custody and the criminal charges against the employees of
the Belarus bureau of ORT be dropped.”
Resolution 2: “Having considered the state of affairs in the
Belarusian media, we, participants at the international
conference ‘Belarusian Media: Distinguishing Features of
Legislation, Rights and Duties of Journalists’, which was held in
Minsk on September 19 and 20, emphasise that all-round and
reliable information is an extremely necessary condition for the
normal functioning of any society. This is of particular
importance to our society which is in a crisis now. In the
conditions where the Belarusian state is moving towards
totalitarianism, society is missing the important opportunity to
freely discuss the situation and express views and thoughts. No
one of the Belarusian journalists aims to enter into conflict
with the government. We just want to work within the bounds of
legislation which would be in compliance with the world standards
and the international agreements to which Belarus is a party.
Criticism directed against certain actions by governmental
agencies should meet with an adequate response from them.
However, to our deep regret, we have to state that:
independent media outlets. Among the components of this campaign
are physical attacks on journalists discharging their
professional duties, new regulations of the stay and professional
activities of foreign journalists and bureaus of foreign media on
the territory of Belarus, arrests of journalists, the violent
“confiscation” of equipment and video materials, repeated threats
by the Belarusian president against some journalists, and so on;
Belarus by an information iron curtain so that the world
community will not know the truth about what is going on in this
country. This is being done regardless of the international
agreements to which Belarus is a party;
of this. In this regard we call on our foreign colleagues,
including the Russian ones, to intensify their activities aimed
at impartial, all-round and well-thought-out coverage of events
occurring in Belarus.”
“We also appeal to the Belarusian president and government and
demand:
Introduction of Amendments into the Law of the Republic of
Belarus On the Press and Other Mass Media’;
compliance with international standards;
development of media in Belarus.
“Participants at the conference appeal to the world community for
assistance in every way possible to protect freedom of expression
in Belarus. However ambiguous the political situation in Belarus
is, harassment of the press can by no means be justified. We
believe that the international community must be immediately
informed of all instances of disregard for freedom of expression,
politically motivated repressions and violations of journalists’
rights. We also appeal to our colleagues working for state-owned
media outlets. Being aware of your difficult and ambiguous
situation, we would like, nevertheless, to remind you once again
about the existence of dignity, conscience, the code of
journalist honour, professional ethics and solidarity.”
The main output of the conference is to be reflected in a special
issue of the BAJ bulletin “The Fourth Estate”.
This conference was the first one in a series of conferences held
under the aegis of the Council of Europe. The next is to be held
in the middle of October.
