U.S. advocate decriminalization of defamation and say failure to grant broadcast licenses to A1+ and Noyan Tapan TV companies is politically driven

The Bureau of International Information Programs of the U.S. Department of State disseminated the speech of Ronald McNamara made on October 7 at the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw. In his speech the member of the U.S. delegation expressed U.S. concern that freedom of expression, the media and information was deteriorating in the OSCE region. The speaker cited criminal defamation laws, the abolition of which has long been sought by the United States throughout the OSCE region, if not worldwide, as particularly pernicious in their effects.

Ronald McNamara noted that the United States commended the joint declaration of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and the OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression that they issued in December 2002. It says, in particular: "Criminal defamation is not a justifiable restriction on freedom of expression; all criminal defamation laws should be abolished and replaced, where necessary, with appropriate civil defamation laws."

Stressing that the U.S. welcome the step Romania made to implement this principle in practice, the speaker said: "We join the OSCE Office in Yerevan in urging Armenia to follow the example being set by Romania and repeal its criminal defamation and insult laws."

It should be reminded that on June 17 the heads of 6 diplomatic missions operating in Armenia, 11 international organizations and journalistic associations, including the Yerevan Press Club, addressed a letter to Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly Artur Bagdasarian which read there was a necessity to decriminalize libel and insult and transfer them into the civil law field.

Further Ronald McNamara said that, "despite some positive efforts and the vast resources and energy that had been spent to develop free media and protect journalists", the United States would have to agree with the statement of OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Freimut Duve that the situation of free media in the OSCE region has deteriorated in recent years. The speaker cited examples of pressure on the freedom of speech and media in Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey and countries of Central Asia to illustrate this point.

As compared to these countries, freedom of the media is more highly developed in the Caucasus, but, as the statement ran, concerns remain. In particular, in Georgia, against the backdrop of the upcoming November parliamentary election, official pressure on the independent Rustavi-2 TV station has been renewed, and in Azerbaijan harassment of the media and intimidation of journalists continues.

With regard to Armenia, Ronald McNamara noted, "In Armenia, A1+ and Noyan Tapan remain off the air, after failed efforts to win tenders for broadcast licenses that were widely seen as politically driven."

Ronald McNamara finished his speech by thanking on behalf of his country OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Freimut Duve for his steadfast efforts over the past six years in developing the office of Representative on Freedom of the Media: "While Mr. Duve started out with little in the way of resources, over time he built an office that should be able to work constructively to protect one of our most cherished freedoms."