OUR WORK IN 2013

Ethnic conflict and crucial elections significantly affected media environments in South and Southeast Asia in 2013. The ethnic unrest in Myanmar cast a wider spotlight on Buddhist-Muslim tensions in the Southeast Asian region and highlighted the role and ­behaviour of both traditional and social media in conflict reporting.

In Pakistan, elections in May provided hope for democratic improvements, but the country instead saw journalists sandwiched between the Taliban and other interest groups who threatened media to control information flows. In Afghanistan, the prospect of milestone elections in 2014 and the withdrawal of international troops in 2015, sparked uncertainty and a deteriorating ­security environment for media and civil society.

Elections in Nepal in November were deemed largely successful, but Nepali media still suffered a spate of intimidations from political parties and youth groups, propagating self-censorship. Bhutan, on the other hand, took positive steps forward in civil and political liberties including in media freedoms following the government’s interest in reforming and modernising the media system.

IMS’ partnership approach, which focuses on working closely with other likeminded organisations and on aligning our priorities with those of the local media was a common feature throughout our work in South and Southeast Asia in 2013. The UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity rolled out in Pakistan and ­Nepal by IMS, UNESCO, Open Society Foundations (OSF) and local partners, was a prime example of this.

Myanmar

The arrival of Myanmar’s first private daily newspapers on the streets of Yangon in April 2013 marked another important milestone in the string of reforms in the country’s media sector since 2011. Through partnerships with journalist associations, media workers, ministries and international media development organisations, and reinforced by a strong presence on the ground, IMS focused on media law reform in support of a safe media environment, strengthening institutions that educate and advocate the rights of journalists and professionalising journalistic content and skills.

As the first international organisation in Myanmar, IMS signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cement our cooperation with a range of key players, including the country’s newly established press council, journalist associations and the Ministry of Information, committing the signatories to work together on media law reform. Together with the Centre for Law and Democracy, IMS thus provided input to all tabled media laws, including the draft Broadcast Law and Public Service Law. Crucially, Myanmar’s first code of ethics for media, was drafted by the Interim Press Council with IMS’ support.

The need to address professionalism in journalism, and ethical standards in particular, was evident in the area of conflict reporting with examples of hate speech fueling existing tensions in conflict-ridden areas. IMS worked to promote a peaceful role of media during conflict and in peace negotiations through support to the Myanmar Peace Center which promotes peaceful dialogue. More than 400 journalists were trained in conflict sensitive journalism in 11 different cities, including in the conflict-plagued Rakhine and Kachin states.

In February, the fifth annual Yangon Photo Festival showcased some of Myanmar’s finest photo journalism work, the result of intensive multimedia photojournalism workshops for aspiring photojournalists organised by IMS in Yangon and in the conflict-ridden parts of the country.

“For some students, portraying life through the lens of a camera has been the first real opportunity to openly express themselves and show sides to Burmese life which have not been documented previously,” said trainer for IMS and curator of the festival, Christophe Loviny. IMS has trained more than 170 photojournalists since 2009, some of whom now work for international agencies such as Reuters and AFP.

Nepal

In Nepal, the media climate remained un­certain in 2013, although there were less physical ­attacks on journalists than in 2012, according to the US-based organisation Freedom House.

IMS’ efforts focused on building a safer working environment for journalists and working to push forward the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity together with UNESCO and OSF. Tied to this work was IMS’ collaboration with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Nepal to support its planned efforts to establish a national mechanism to improve the safety of journalists.

Pakistan

Pakistan was the fourth most dangerous country in the world for journalists in 2013. In a year of violent elections and worsening security, IMS focused on improving the capacity of journalists to report professionally and safely in crisis-affected areas and on improving relations between Afghan and Pakistani media.

The twin blasts that killed three journalists in Quetta in January 2013 highlighted the need to further strengthen the safety of journalists in the country. IMS’ package of safety activities carried out in partnership with OSF and UNESCO, included research on media safety and legal defence clinics for media lawyers in which they were trained in media law.

“If not for the IMS safety trainings we had in Quetta, more lives would have been lost due to the massive twin blasts in January,” said Tahir Ratore of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists.

The International Conference on Protection and Safety of Journalists in Islamabad in March brought together senior government members, local media and international groups to launch the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity in Pakistan. The Pakistan Coalition on Media Safety, comprising media unions, owners, media houses, and parliamentarians, was established at the meeting to coordinate work on media safety. A joint map tracking and monitoring media attacks has since been set up by the Coalition (http://mediasafety.pk) and discussions are ongoing about the appointment of a special prosecutor on media attacks and a legal aid fund for media.

The unstable political relationship between ­Pakistan and Afghanistan, prompted efforts to forge closer ties between journalists working on both sides of the border to improve informed coverage of cross-border issues and mutual ­understanding. A total of 14 journalist exchanges between the two countries took place facilitated by IMS and led one of Pakistan’s largest English-language dailies, Dawn, to station a correspondent in Kabul.

Afghanistan

In a year that would become one of the most violent ever for Afghan journalists and with milestone elections ahead in 2014, the value of the IMS-founded, country-wide Afghan Journalists’ Safety Committee (AJSC) became evermore clear. AJSC monitored violations in 32 out of 34 provinces and provided medical, legal and trauma assistance in 76 cases of journalists in danger. For journalists who work in an environment where they are purposely targeted for their work, AJSC was a source of support across the country.

The comprehensive safety package for journalists set up by IMS, but locally anchored with and run by AJSC included safety training for male and female journalists, practical measures such as a 24-hour hotline to which more than 400 calls from journalists in distress were made in 2013, and a safety fund for journalists in peril. The package also includes facilitating dialogues between government officials, security forces and the Afghan media to improve mutual understanding and focus on the safety of journalists. In 2013, the government set up a Media Violence Council to handle violations against media. Although a positive step forward, the Council has yet to really establish its independence.

In preparation for the April 2014 elections, IMS and AJSC held media election “shuras” (round­tables) with Afghan media workers about the process of elections, the roles, and the safety of the media. In addition to this, AJSC set up and tested a countrywide alert system for Afghan media workers which informed media workers by mobile phone text messages and social ­media about election-related events and threats against journalists in their province. Media workers in turn were provided with the skills to report back to AJSC headquarters from election campaigns around the country.

China

One of the many platforms for exercising Freedom of Expression is documentary filmmaking where attention is given to societal issues that the regular press does not cover. In November, the annual Danish documentary film festival CPH:DOX, a central proponent of the strong Danish tradition for documentary filmmaking, invited four Chinese directors and 10 Chinese documentary films to feature in the festival’s special segment on China entitled Between chaos and control. IMS facilitated their participation as part of our mandate to promote documentary filmmaking as a platform for expression and ­alternative voices.

Bhutan

The promising steps taken by the government of Bhutan in 2013 to move from a state-controlled towards a more democratic ­media environment was a highlight in the South Asian region, which otherwise primarily­ encountered setbacks in terms of press freedom. IMS was pleased to assist the government and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in designing a three-year ­media development programme that addresses ­media regulation, community media outreach, and sustainability of private media. IMS and the ­Centre for Law and Democracy also provided technical advice for the formulation of an Access to ­Information law, and will continue in an advisory role to support the build-up of a new democratic media sector.

A climate of violence against and intimidation of journalists and media workers persisted in 2013 in Colombia, Honduras and Mexico as the justice systems in all three countries faced increasing exposure for their inability to break down a prevailing culture of impunity in the Latin American region.

From a near failed state in Honduras to a press corps still reeling from state surveillance in Colombia, the unifying factor tying together the regions of Central and South America was a toxic mix of intimidation and persecution of journalists by both organised crime groups and security forces.

Reporters in Colombia, covering the months-long anti-government demonstrations by peasant farmers in northern Catatumbo, were violently targeted by all sides.  

In Honduras, allegations of law enforcement engaging in corruption and forming police death squads dogged the media with simultaneous threats by organised crime groups on the rise.

Similar to their Honduran colleagues, journalists in Mexico continued to be targeted, attacked and disappeared as competing drug cartels, law enforcement and the military battled throughout the country. Self-censorship increased as several media outlets sought refuge in this last safety resort.

Colombia

In Colombia, IMS aims to work with media outlets and media support groups to encourage a positive and proactive role for the media in consolidating peace. To assist local media in addressing the rollout of the peace process, in 2013 IMS developed a new project to support the media’s role in promoting conflict reduction and shedding light on the peace process and the road to transition in three high-risk zones.

Based on a possible positive outcome in the peace talks in Havana, the time period of the programme will also involve the implementation phase following the signing of a peace accord between the Colombian government and the FARC. This work will focus on enhancing conflict sensitive journalism reporting by local media outlets and will also involve extensive work with the security forces operating in these areas.

Honduras

This safety work will be replicated in Honduras in 2014, where IMS aims to combine safety training and conflict sensitive journalism with a range of media outlets to boost coverage of sensitive topics like drug trafficking, government corruption, and land conflicts through a new investigative journalism programme.

In the last quarter of 2013, as part of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, IMS, together with Open Society Foundations, pushed forward plans for the new year to establish a new safety fund for journalists in Mexico and to support safety monitoring by local press freedom groups in both Honduras and Mexico.

Relying on subtle yet thoroughly pervasive and effective methods to suppress independent journalists and critical voices, governments in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia in 2013 stepped up their efforts to control the flow of news and information both online and offline.

In Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, presidential elections served to maintain a veneer of public order and legitimacy while authorities in reality suppressed the independent media. In Belarus, the few alternatives to the government-controlled media continued to struggle in a severely restrictive environment, while the independent media in Kyrgyzstan remained fairly free but also somewhat inexperienced. The notable exception to the relative political stability of these countries was Ukraine, where the country’s media was put under severe pressure by the violent clashes between authorities and ­civilians that began in late 2013, and the later crisis between Ukraine and Russia in 2014.

The silencing of independent voices whether through subtle techniques or targeted attacks in 2013 once again highlighted the acute need for extensive media reforms in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Throughout the year, IMS and its partners took real strides to meet this need by enabling journalists to produce high quality content, strengthening future media and civil society leaders, and securing the right and ability of journalists and independent voices to express themselves freely. This work was firmly rooted in close partnerships with local and international media and civil society groups to ensure that it addressed the challenges expressed by local media in the most effective and efficient ways.

Changes to our funding meant that activities in Azerbaijan and Ukraine were halted in late 2012 but were well under way again in June.

Azerbaijan

In Azerbaijan, an unrelenting crackdown on Freedom of Expression continued in 2013 in the lead-up to the country’s October presidential election. Throughout the year, authorities arrested human rights defenders, imprisoned critical journalists, and adopted laws to further restrict fundamental freedoms.

The crackdown also targeted online freedoms through harassment of online activists and bloggers, through politically motivated surveillance, and by the government extending criminal defamation provisions to online content. Through a series of fact-based research reports and consultations with high-level officials, IMS’ partner, Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) spent much of 2013 calling on the international community to put pressure on the government to right its wrongs both online and offline.

In Azerbaijan, as in most other countries, putting pressure on the government by raising international awareness of human rights abuses is an exceedingly difficult exercise because it involves the dynamics of international relations and politics, and because civil society groups and the international community do not always have sufficient leverage at their disposal. Taking on these challenging conditions, IRFS emerged as a strong voice in the struggle for national policy change and as a leading resource for human rights advocates in Azerbaijan. This enabled IRFS to push for the kind of change that IMS aspires to bring about—change that will allow media and citizens to exercise their rights to Freedom of ­Expression and Access to Information.

Ukraine

2013 marked the beginning of a decisive period in Ukraine’s history. The developments that began with the Euromaidan protests in November turned into violent unrest, and extended into 2014 with the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych and the subsequent political crisis between Ukraine and Russia. The events had a disastrous impact on the media with scores of journalists assaulted, killed, and silenced through intimidation and harassment.

In response to the overwhelming amount of violent attacks on the media, IMS’ partner, Media Law Institute (MLI) opened a hotline for journalists who had had their rights violated, offering legal advice and support. MLI also sought to strengthen the safety of journalists by distributing press vests through Ukraine’s national journalism groups.

Throughout the year, IMS and MLI worked to further institutionalise and put into practice past years’ positive developments in Ukraine’s media legislation. This included strengthening the skills of media lawyers to enable them to better protect journalists in court, promoting the 2011 Law on Access to Public Information, and enabling journalists to protect themselves through improved understanding of their rights and obligations.

Belarus

The critical situation for Freedom of Expression in Belarus saw next to no actual improvements in 2013. Restrictive legislation and economic regulation gave the independent media little possibility to develop or compete with state-owned media, which make up the large majority of available mainstream sources of information. One of the few positive developments that did occur was the Belarusian government’s invitation of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, who appealed to the Belarusian authorities to end the practice of short-term detention of journalists covering public events, and emphasised the need for a profound reform of the media’s legislative framework.

Kyrgyzstan

Despite political instability, shortcomings in law enforcement and the judiciary and high levels of corruption, Kyrgyzstan remained in 2013 a relatively bright spot among its Central Asian neighbours for Freedom of Expression. The country’s reasonably free media environment was unfortunately paired with low professional standards, and some parts of the media community lacked the ability to take active part in the reconciliation of Uzbek and Kyrgyz groups who clashed violently in 2010.

IMS continued its efforts to enable the media to perform such a reconciliatory role by working with Kloop Media Foundation, a popular online and FM-based news platform that seeks to bridge the divide between the two ethnic groups through multilingual news and skills-training of aspiring journalists. While Kloop normally buys airtime from radio stations, 2013 offered the encouraging exchange of professional services when the popular Birinchi Radio instead of payment requested training in website development from Kloop’s talented staff. As an isolated development, this was a small refinement of Kloop’s business model, but also more widely reflects IMS’ general aspiration of enabling local media to sustain themselves and engage in fruitful partnerships.

In the same vein as Kloop’s reconciliation-focused work, IMS and the organisation Public Association “Journalists” brought Kyrgyz and Uzbek students together to produce the newspaper Danek. Distributed across schools in the city of Osh, where the 2010 clashes took place, the paper sought to educate budding journalists and students from an early age about Kyrgyz and Uzbek cultural values to foster a better understanding between the two groups.

Tajikistan

In Tajikistan, President Emomali Rahmon was re-elected with an exceedingly comfortable margin to a fourth term in office in November. With a widening crackdown on Freedom of Expression in the run-up to the election, independent media faced growing difficulties in providing voters with adequate information to enable them to cast their ballots in a meaningful way.

IMS worked with its partners to ensure that the little available room for the independent media to cover the electoral process was used to bring attention to voting irregularities and to educate voters on the programmes of the political candidates.

Beyond the work connected to the election, IMS also continued its collaboration with the youth organisation Dast ba Dast (Hand in Hand), which provides young people with the skills to produce professional radio news. In addition to the immediate success of reaching an estimated audience of over one million listeners in 2013, the aspiring journalists also benefited from strengthened leadership skills enabling them to take more active part in improving their own lives and local environments.

In a similarly encouraging way, a select group of representatives from non-governmental organisations took part in a summer school in August to enhance their skills in basic journalism and social media use. Organised by the Dushanbe-based ICT Centre and The Independent School of Journalism, the school paved the way for the online network Youth Media Support, and enabled participants to carry out their own trainings, passing on their skills to their peers so that they may be developed further in a locally driven manner.