(HRW/IFEX) – The following is an open letter sent by Human Rights Watch on 16 February 1998 to the leaders of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia) regarding the recent announcement on 6 February 1998 of an open bid for temporary radio and television frequencies, and other laws regulating broadcasting in Serbia. It was sent […]
(HRW/IFEX) – The following is an open letter sent by Human Rights Watch on
16 February 1998 to the leaders of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
(Serbia) regarding the recent announcement on 6 February 1998 of an open bid
for temporary radio and television frequencies, and other laws regulating
broadcasting in Serbia. It was sent to Yugoslav President Slobodon
Milosevic, Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, Yugoslav Minister of Foreign
Affairs Zivadin Jovanovic, Yugoslav Minister of Transport and
Telecommunications Dojcilo Radojevic, Serbian Minister of Information
Radmila Milentijevic, and Yugoslav Secretary for Information Goran Matic.
***Updates IFEX alert dated 12 February 1998***
“Dear Sirs,
Human Rights Watch, the largest U.S.-based human rights organization,
condemns your government’s ongoing attempts to restrict the independent
media in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). Your consistent
unwillingness to establish a clear and democratic set of laws to regulate
the electronic media violates your government’s obligations under Serbian,
Yugoslav, and international law to guarantee freedom of the press and
freedom of expression.
The open bid for temporary radio and television frequencies, announced on 6
February 1998, only complicates the matter. Like the laws regulating the
electronic media, the legal procedures for the open bid are confusing,
inconsistent, and in contradiction with other Serbian and Yugoslav laws. For
example, only companies that are registered with the Ministry of Information
and the Commercial Court may submit a bid. But this requirement contradicts
Serbian law since, according to the Law on Radio Television, a company first
needs a frequency in order to register with these bodies. The cost of
participating in the bid, the technical conditions required, and the
documents needed from other government-run agencies are insurmountable
barriers for the private radio and television stations that exist in FRY.
Human Rights Watch views the most recent open bid as a continuation of the
government’s policy to deny, through complicated and unduly burdensome legal
procedures, frequencies to those radio and television stations that do not
conform to the state’s narrow definition of “acceptable information.” These
stations are allowed to operate, thereby demonstrating to the international
community an apparent respect for free speech. But, as the past has
demonstrated, the government may close down a private radio or television
station without a license at any time. An estimated 300 private radio
stations and 100 private television stations in FRY are currently in this
precarious position. In contrast, government-run stations or commercial
stations with close ties to the government, like Radio Kosava or BKTV, have
consistently obtained licenses and are free to broadcast without interference.
In mid-1997, for example, the government closed 77 independent,
opposition-run or commercial television and radio stations on the basis that
they were “illegal.” Many of the stations did not possess the proper
licenses, in fact because the government consistently refused to grant
licenses to stations that broadcast critical views of the state.
Human Rights Watch therefore calls on the FRY government to:
independent media in Yugoslavia, that guarantee freedom of expression in
television and radio. Concrete changes in the Serbian Law on Radio
Television, the Serbian Law on Communication Systems, the Serbian Laws on
Public Information, the Federal Law on Communication Systems, and the
Federal Law on Public Information should guarantee that broadcast licenses
are distributed and regulated by an independent body without regard to
political considerations.
all currently licensed, and all unlicensed but currently operating, radio
and television stations to broadcast without interference. No regulation of
the airwaves should take place until Yugoslavia has a new set of media laws
and regulations that guarantee free expression in accordance with
international standards.
Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), on a regular basis about
ways to protect and promote the independent media.
Human Rights Watch will continue to monitor the development of FRY’s media
legislation and its application. We note that freedom of the media is a
fundamental requirement for lifting the outer wall of sanctions currently in
place against FRY and reintegrating the country into the international
community.
Yours,
[signed]
Holly Cartner
Executive Director
Europe and Central Asia Division
cc: Richard Miles, United States Embassy in Belgrade
Robert Gelbard, U.S. Special Envoy to the Balkans
Bronislav Geremek, OSCE Chairman-in-Office
Robin Cook, E.U. Council of Ministers
U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the former Yugoslavia
Background Information
The Electronic Media in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The broadcast media in Serbia is regulated by five laws: the Serbian Law on
Radio and Television, the Laws on Connection Systems (Serbian and federal,)
and the Laws on Public Information (Serbian and federal.) In addition, a
number of state bodies are involved in regulation, including the Ministry of
Transport and Telecommunications, the Ministry of Information and the
commercial courts. Many of the relevant laws and regulations are
contradictory and allow the government to grant or deny licenses to those
stations it desires. For example, under current regulations, the Yugoslav
Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications requires applicants for a
broadcast license to provide proof that the station has been registered as a
public media outlet at the Ministry of Information and at the appropriate
commercial court. But these documents cannot be obtained without first
having a license from the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications. Even
taken individually, Serbia’s broadcast laws do not guarantee that licenses
will be allocated on a non-discriminatory basis. Article 5 of Serbia’s Law
on Radio and Television gives the government a very broad discretional right
to grant licenses, while article 10 (6) of the same law allows the
government to revoke licenses under vague terms. Article 7 of the law
obliges the government to hold an open auction for frequencies once a year,
but the last auction was held in 1994.
As a result, since 1989 independent radio and television stations (like
Radio B-92 or Radio Boom 93) have been repeatedly denied a license without
an explanation even though they apparently met all of the criteria, while
stations that were either blatantly pro-Milosevic or, at least, commercial
and wholly uncritical (like RTV Pink or BK TV) easily obtained licenses for
large parts of Serbia. The most extreme example was Radio Kosava, run by
Milosevic’s daughter, Marija, which obtained a frequency by government
decree without even submitting an application.
The independent broadcast media was, therefore, severely limited in its
effectiveness, leaving the state controlled television and radio to
disseminate government propaganda unchallenged, as in the past. Many people
in Serbia and abroad blame the state media for encouraging the war in former
Yugoslavia by distorting facts and promoting xenophobic, extreme nationalist
views.
Despite these barriers, Serbia’s independent radio and television stations
played an important role during the 1996-97 demonstrations by disseminating
information, often directly from the streets, that offered an alternative to
government propaganda. Unlike during the war, which was never fought inside
Serbia, audiences could contrast the state media’s coverage with their daily
experiences at home. The daily audience of the larger stations, specifically
Radio B-92 and Radio Index in Belgrade, rose to over one million. Smaller
stations throughout Serbia rebroadcast B-92’s transmission, thus providing
many people in the countryside with an alternative to the state-run media,
which was misrepresenting the purpose and scale of the demonstrations. In
acknowledgment of their effectiveness, the government attempted to ban or
close a large number of radio stations, including Radio B-92 itself, which
responded by sending daily news over the Internet.
Most often, the state justified the closures by claiming that the station in
question did not have the proper license to broadcast. In most cases, this
was true, a consequence in large part of the government’s persistent refusal
to grant such licenses to independent radio or television stations. Many of
the stations that were closed following the November 1996 elections, all of
them either independent or oppositional, had been operating without
interference for the past three or more years, suggesting that they were
closed strictly for political reasons.
In May 1997, the Serbian Minister of Information, Radmila Milentijevic,
promised that there would be democratic reform in the electronic media and
that no private television or radio station would be shut down before the
September 21 elections. Despite this, on June 2, the Yugoslav Minister for
Transport and Telecommunications, Dojcilo Radojevic, announced the need to
“establish order in the broadcast media.” All “pirate” radio and television
stations, he declared, would be permanently banned if they failed to apply
for a temporary broadcast license by 30 June 1997. However, the ministry did
not clarify which documents were required to apply for a temporary license
or on what criteria applications would be considered. According to
journalists and the Association of Independent Broadcast Media, a local
network of independent radio and television stations, the procedure at that
time for submitting the application was confusing and contradictory.
Shortly after the 30 June deadline, and in some cases before the deadline,
the government initiated a coordinated campaign among the Ministry of
Transport and Telecommunications, the criminal police, the financial police
and various government agencies to shut down more than seventy-five radio
and television stations across Serbia and confiscate some of their equipment
without warning, even though some of the stations had submitted all of the
necessary documentation. All of the closed stations were either independent,
run by the opposition or commercial and unconnected to the government.
On 6 February 1998, the government announced another open bid for temporary
radio and television frequencies, even though it had never replied to the
bids submitted in June 1997. To apply for a bid, stations must meet a number
of criteria, such as be registered at the Ministry of Information and
Commercial Court, have the proper licenses for electronics and construction,
and provide an as-yet undisclosed fee.
