Check against delivery
Statement by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the
right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue
Twentieth session of the Human Rights Council
Geneva, 19 June 2012
Madame President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
My annual report this year explores key trends and challenges to the protection of journalists
and media freedom. It also provides an overview of the activities that I have undertaken last
year, including issuance of press releases and communications, participation in conferences,
and country visits requested and undertaken. I am also pleased to present the two addenda with
my findings and recommendations from my visits to Algeria, Israel and the occupied
Palestinian territory. For this year, I look forward to carrying out visits to Honduras and
Indonesia, and would like to thank the respective Governments for extending me their
invitations.
Madame President,
The issue of the protection of journalists has been a central component of my mandate, and one
which I have addressed in the past through several reports to the Human Rights Council and the
General Assembly. I have decided to dedicate my report to the Council on this issue once
again, due to the continuing repression of journalists and media freedom worldwide, aimed at
suppressing information deemed “inconvenient”, as well as increasing restrictions placed on
journalists who disseminate information through the Internet.
As outlined in my report, I have adopted a functional definition of journalists, in line with the
views of the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
An attack against a journalist is not only a violation of his or her right to impart information,
but also a violation of the right of individuals and society at large to “seek and receive
information and ideas of all kinds”. Without respect for the right to freedom of expression, and
in particular media freedom, it is impossible to create an informed, active and engaged society,
which is essential for transparency and democratic participation. An attack against a journalist
can therefore be conceived as an attack against democracy.
A worrying trend in 2011 was the increase in the number of attacks against journalists and
individuals monitoring street protests and demonstrations around the world. Such attacks
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ranged from arbitrary arrests and detention, verbal and physical attacks, confiscation or
destruction of equipment, as well as killings.
Additionally, while the death or plight of foreign journalists in armed conflict situations
frequently draws the attention of the international community, it is the local journalists who
face daily risks and violations of their rights in situations that have not reached the threshold of
armed conflict, but may be characterized by violence, lawlessness and/or repression.
These range from restrictions to movement, including deportations and denial of access into a
country or a particular area; arbitrary arrests and detention, particularly during public crises or
demonstrations; torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,
including sexual violence against female journalists; confiscation of equipment, information
theft, illegal surveillance and office break-ins; intimidation, harassment, including of family
members, death threats, stigmatization and smear campaigns; to abductions, enforced
disappearances and assassinations.
Perpetrators of attacks against journalists include both State and non-State actors, such as
organized criminal groups, security forces, or paramilitary groups. Journalists who report on
matters such as human rights violations, corruption, organized crime, drug trafficking, public
crises, demonstrations, or environmental issues, including on mining and infrastructure
projects, are at particular risk.
Online journalists and bloggers also face additional forms of harassment, intimidation and
censorship, such as illegal hacking into their accounts, monitoring of their online activities,
arbitrary arrests and detention, and the blocking of websites that contain information that are
critical of authorities. The killing of a Mexican reporter, Maria Elizabeth Marcias Castro,
whose decapitated body was found with a note stating that she had been killed for reporting
news on social media websites, underscores the dangers faced by journalists who disseminate
their work through online platforms. Moreover, according to the Committee to Protect
Journalists, almost half of the 179 journalists imprisoned in 2011 were those whose work
appeared online.
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Additionally, States continue to utilize criminal laws on defamation, national security or
counter-terrorism to suppress dissent and criticism, including on Government policies, human
rights violations, and allegations of corruption. Such “judicial harassment” generates a climate
of fear and encourages self-censorship. I therefore reiterate my call upon all Governments to
decriminalize defamation, and to repeal or modify vaguely and broadly worded legislation on
national security or counter-terrorism.
I would also like to stress that journalists should not be held responsible for receiving, storing
and disseminating classified data which was obtained in a way that is not illegal, including
leaks and information received from unidentified sources. Neither should they be forced to
reveal their sources of information. Additionally, I call upon all States to facilitate access
historical archives of official information to enable journalists, academics and human rights
victims to establish the truth about past violations.
Madame President,
The problem of continued and increasing violence against journalists is not the lack of legal
standards, but the lack of implementation of existing norms and standards. Indeed, it is the
failure of States to take effective preventive measures, as well as their unwillingness or
inability to investigate and prosecute those responsible that continues to fuel violence against
journalists. To address the problem of impunity, we must look at its root causes – whether it is
lack of political will to pursue investigations, inadequate legal framework and a weak judicial
system, lack of expertise of law enforcement officials and judicial bodies, negligence, or
corruption.
As the causes of violence against journalists and impunity vary from context to context, any
strategies or protection mechanisms designed to protect journalists must be tailored to the local
needs with context-specific consideration of the differing needs of journalists through
consultations and involvement of journalists themselves.
In this regard, I would like to welcome the establishment of a protection programme for
journalists and the National Unit for the Protection of Journalists in Colombia, which provides
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journalists with concrete and material assistance, such as bulletproof vehicles and emergency
transfers to safe areas. I am also encouraged by the steps taken in Mexico to combat ongoing
violence against journalists, including the establishment of the Special Prosecutor’s Office for
Crimes against Freedom of Expression, and a law adopted to criminalize violence against
journalists. I would like to stress that the protection of journalists requires a holistic approach
that includes material, legal, and political measures of protection, including public
condemnation of attacks against journalists and support for press freedom by high-level State
officials.
For their part, journalists and media organizations should take precautionary safety measures to
ensure their own protection. Additionally, by voluntarily adhering to global standards of
professionalism, such as the Declaration of Principles on the Conduct of Journalists, journalists
can also enhance their credibility in the eyes of society and their legitimate protection concerns.
Mission to Algeria
I undertook my mission to Algeria from 10 to 17 April 2011, during which I visited Algiers and
Oran. I congratulate the Government of Algeria on having voluntarily invited me to visit the
country, which I consider as good practice.
Algeria has come a long way since the Black Decade, during which journalists paid a
tremendously high price. I pay tribute to those who lost their lives during the conflict, and to
their families. Today, such violence against journalists no longer exists in Algeria, but I have
several issues of concern that I would like to raise.
While I welcome the adoption of a law in August 2011 to decriminalize defamation against
public officials, I am concerned that defamation remains a criminal offence under the Criminal
Code. I am further concerned that an individual can be fined and jailed if he or she “exploits the
wounds of the national tragedy, with a view to harming Algerian institutions, harming the
honour of its agents who served with dignity or tarnishing the image of Algeria at the
international level”. Although this provision in the ordinance on the implementation of the
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Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation has never been invoked, it encourages selfcensorship by the media.
A law on information, adopted in December 2011, contains some positive provisions, including
the opening of the audiovisual sector to Algerian private companies. However, I have several
concerns regarding the law, including the imposition of broad restrictions on the types of
information that can be disseminated.
I further note with concern acts of intimidation against journalists, lack of independence of the
media, and weakening of the press. Most of the newspapers are very small and depend entirely
on official advertisement for subsistence, and State-sponsored newspapers are reportedly used
by the Government to dilute and “balance out” any criticism of its policies. I also find it
regrettable that Al Jazeera is not permitted to operate in the country.
In relation to freedoms of peaceful assembly and association, which are integral to the
enjoyment of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, I am concerned that there are
arbitrary restrictions imposed by the Government, including an opaque procedure of
authorizing marches, broad criteria to refuse the establishment of new associations, and
restrictions on access to foreign funding and on the work of foreign associations.
Finally, I once again call on the National Advisory Commission for the promotion and
protection of human rights to raise the legitimate human rights demands, past and present,
made by all sectors of civil society.
Mission to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory
My mission to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory was carried out from 6 to 17
December 2011. In Israel, I visited West Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Be’er Sheva and other
surrounding villages in the Negev desert. In the occupied Palestinian territory, I visited East
Jerusalem, Ramallah, Nabi-Saleh, and Gaza. I would like to express my appreciation to both
authorities for facilitating my visit.
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With regard to the situation in Israel, I am concerned by the recent attempts to limit criticism
of Israel regarding its policies and practices of occupation, and questioning of Israel as a Jewish
state. This includes, for example, adoption of laws that prohibit the commemoration of Israel’s
independence day as the day of mourning; creation of additional reporting obligations that
disproportionately affect Israeli human rights NGOs; and prohibition of boycotts or calls for
boycotts of Israeli products and those produced in the settlements in the West Bank. I am also
concerned by the proposed bill to amend the defamation law to increase the financial penalties
for defamation by six fold. I would like to appeal to all members of the Knesset to ensure that
new legislative proposals are strictly in conformity with Israeli’s international human rights
obligations.
The existence of a military censor in Israel is another area of concern, as prior censorship
mechanisms should not exist in any country. I therefore encourage the Government of Israel to
consider abolishing this post. I am also very concerned by the prosecution of Uri Blau, an
investigative journalist who received classified military information from a former soldier. As
mentioned earlier, journalists should never be held responsible for receiving such information,
nor be forced to reveal their sources.
In the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), journalists face multiple obstacles to carry out
their work as a result of the internal division between the Palestinian Authority in the West
Bank and the de facto authorities in Gaza. Journalists affiliated with the other are often viewed
with suspicion, and certain newspapers are banned in the West Bank and in Gaza as they are
perceived to be sympathetic towards either the Hamas or Fatah respectively. I would like to
appeal to the Palestinian Authority and the de facto authorities to support the work of
Palestinian journalists in the spirit of unity and cooperation, including by lifting the symbolic
ban on newspapers, especially given that the content is available on the Internet.
In the West Bank, I am concerned by the recent increase in the number of journalists, human
rights defenders and bloggers who are arbitrary detained and interrogated by the security forces
of the Palestinian Authority for criticism of public officials.
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The ability of individuals in the West Bank to express their opinions through demonstrations is
also limited by the Israeli Defense Forces, who prevent demonstrations from taking place; use
excessive force to disperse unarmed protesters; and intimidate villagers where demonstrations
regularly take place through night raids and the use of sound or gas bombs aimed at their
houses. I am also deeply concerned by the recent raids of media offices in the West Bank by
the Israeli security forces and the confiscation of equipment without any prior warning or
justification of such actions.
In East Jerusalem, the right of Palestinians to freedom of opinion and expression is unduly
restricted by the Government of Israel, through the banning of cultural events, forcible
expulsion of Palestinian residents for alleged lack of loyalty to the State of Israel, and
censorship of text books used in Palestinian schools. I appeal to the Government of Israel to
fully guarantee the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the related right to freedom
of assembly and association of all individuals under its control.
In Gaza, I am concerned by the excessive use of force by the security forces of the de facto
authorities to disperse peaceful assemblies; raids and closures of media and human rights
organizations and conferences; and arbitrary arrests and detention of those expressing opinions
deemed unacceptable by the de facto authorities. I am also concerned by the new requirement
for foreign journalists to name a local contact in order to enter Gaza, which may deter reporting
on sensitive matters to prevent any acts of reprisal against the named individual.
Further issues of concern, as well as detailed recommendations to the Government of Israel, the
Palestinian Authority, and the de facto authorities can be found in the addendum to my report. I
look forward to providing further assistance as necessary and to continue my dialogue with all
parties concerned.
Madame President,
It is undeniable that without free and independent media to inform the public, and the space
given to all individuals to express their opinions freely, we cannot have a sustainable and
democratic society based on accountability, transparency and respect for human rights. I renew
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my call on all Governments to be tolerant of criticisms, ensure that journalists can carry out
their functions effectively, and to allow individuals to seek, receive, and impart information and
ideas of all kinds through any means. In this regard, I reiterate my willingness and readiness to
provide my assistance to States to guarantee the full respect of the right to freedom of opinion
and expression.
Thank you very much for your attention.
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