(Globe International/IFEX) – On 4 and 5 March, 2007, foreign-owned orphanages Mother Terza and Uguumur, operating in the capital city Ulaanbaatar, violated the right of access to information of Mongolian National Broadcaster (MNB) journalist Mr. J. Altangerel and commercial television TV5 journalist Ms. D. Dorjmaa. TV5 television and MNB, in cooperation with the Mongolian Parliament […]
(Globe International/IFEX) – On 4 and 5 March, 2007, foreign-owned orphanages Mother Terza and Uguumur, operating in the capital city Ulaanbaatar, violated the right of access to information of Mongolian National Broadcaster (MNB) journalist Mr. J. Altangerel and commercial television TV5 journalist Ms. D. Dorjmaa.
TV5 television and MNB, in cooperation with the Mongolian Parliament and National Center for Children’s Rights, are producing a series of TV programmes on “The life of children living without parents”. It was for this purpose that Altangerel and Dorjmaa approached the orphanages for information.
The staff of US-owned orphanage Mother Tereza refused entry to Altangerel, locking him out and telling him that the children had gone to school.
The heads of the German-owned orphanage Uguumur pushed Dorjmaa, tried to seize her camera and released two dogs on the journalist. On 5 March, the orphanage’s staff threatened Dorjmaa by telephone and asked why she specifically chose their orphanage and who told her about it.
There are 55 orphanages in the capital city; 51 of them are owned by foreign human rights and religious organizations. Most are US, German and Japanese-owned. Currently, from a total of 1,817 children living without supervision, 1,640 are staying in orphanages, 145 are in the street, and the rest are serving prison sentences.
Globe International is planning to send notification letters to Uguumur and Mother Tereza orphanages, informing them that they have violated the rights of journalists to access information.
