RFE/RL (Un)Civil Societies Vol. 1, No. 9: excerpts
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Subject: RFE/RL (Un)Civil Societies Vol. 1, No. 9: excerpts
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
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RFE/RL (Un)Civil Societies Vol. 1, No. 9: excerpts
RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL (Un)Civil Societies
Vol. 1, No. 9, 13 July 2000
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BOSNIA
CONFERENCE ON FREE MEDIA SUPPORT IN SOUTHEAST EUROPE. A conference on
media issues in Southeast Europe, scheduled for October 10 to 12 in
Sarajevo, will propose an action plan for development of regional
strategies to promote free media. Entitled "Free Media in Southeast
Europe: Protection of Journalists, Prevention of Conflict and
Reconciliation," the meeting is being organized by the Representative
on Freedom of the Media of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the OSCE Mission in Bosnia and the
Council of Europe. Contact (OSCE BiH) in Sarajevo at e-mail:
[email protected] or OSCE Vienna at E-mail: [email protected]
or Council of Europe at E-mail: [email protected]
(International Journalists Network, 3-7 July)
GEORGIA
WORKSHOP FOR MINORITY NGOs. Some 20 representatives of NGOs
representing ethnic minorities in Georgia took part in a workshop in
Tbilisi on 27 June; one of the trainers was Nadir Kamaldinov of the
Resource Center on National Minorities in Azerbaijan. Among the issues
discussed were the national minority situation in Georgia, the
activity of Georgian organizations within the NGO framework of the
south Caucasus and increasing cooperation between Azerbaijani and
Georgian NGOs. For more information, contact Nadir Kamaldinov,
Director of the Resource Center on National Minorities in Azerbaijan
at [email protected]. (Minelres, 9 July)
INTERNATIONAL
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UIGHUR HUMAN RIGHTS COALITION. The organization has committees on
networking,education/outreach, specific actions and fundraising. For
further information, contact Kathy Polia, Executive Director at
[email protected] or http://www.uyghurs.org. (Turkestan Net, 7
July)
RUSSIA
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AND ARE MISSIONARIES PART OF U.S. PLOT? Both Russian government
officials and clergy of the Moscow Patriarchiate are spreading the
view that American Protestant missionaries are in Russia as part of a
US government plot to transfer Chukotka, Magadan and other Far Eastern
regions from Russian to American sovereignty. As partial evidence,
Keston News Service said that Bishop Anatoly Aksyonov of the Moscow
Patriarchate's diocese of Magadan and Chukotka had given it a letter
on 27 June which the bishop said "fully reflected" his own views. The
letter, dated 28 February, was from M.N. Kuznetsov of the Russian
Academy of State Service and approvingly mentioned a Russian State
Committee on Affairs of the North document warning of what Kuznetsov
called "a carefully planned system of measures by the U.S.A., now
being executed over a long-term period, to wrest Chukotka away from
the Russian Federation and make it part of the U.S.A." "No small part
of this system is the religious invasion of a huge number of American
Protestant preachers, who have recently been intensifying their
activities in the Far East and particularly in Chukotka," wrote
Kuznetsov. The pastor of a Pentecostal congregation in Magadan told
Keston on 30 June that he and his flock are often accused "of being
foreign spies and of getting money from people and transferring it to
America."
(Keston News Service, 5 July)
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INTERIOR MINISTRY FILES FORMAL CHARGES AGAINST BABITSKY... The
Interior Ministry has filed formal charges against RFE/RL
correspondent Andrei Babitsky, Russian agencies reported on 6 July.
Babitsky is accused ofknowingly using false documents. If found
guilty, he could face up six months in prison, according to RFE/RL's
Russian Service. Babitsky categorically denies he is guilty and has
declared that he will appeal a guilty verdict to the European Court
for Human Rights. Also on 6 July, Babitsky's wife, Lyudmila, was in
Bucharest to accept an OSCE award for her husband for his coverage of
the war in Chechnya. Babitsky himself has been barred from leaving
Russia.
(RFE/RL Newsline, 7 July)
INTERIOR MINISTRY PROMISES EARLY TRIAL DATE FOR BABITSKY CASE.
Vladimir Martynov, head of the Interior Ministry's Center for Public
Information, told Ekho Moskvy on 11 July that RFE/RL correspondent
Andrei Babitsky will stand trial in the near future on charges of
deliberately using false identity documents. According to Martynov,
the case will soon be forwarded to a prosecutor's office so that the
basis for and legality of the charges against Babitsky can be
reviewed.
(RFE/RL, Newsline, 12 July)
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MOSCOW PRESS ENGAGES IN ETHNIC STEREOTYPING? A recent study by Vera
Malkova of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Ethnology and
Anthropology, who spent several years studying the Moscow press, noted
"a distinct tendency to emphasize all that was seen as worst in
different ethnic groups." The author cited the frequent use of the
phrase "a person of Caucasian nationality" in the Moscow press;
negative stereotyping was also applied to specific Caucasus
nationalities: Azerbaijanis and Chechens were often described as
"bandits," while Georgians were seen as members of "criminal groups."
Altogether, people from the Caucasus region tended to be viewed as
"inconvenient guests" who represent a threat to "native Muscovites."
While Malkova advocated greater adherence to a professional code of
ethics, she also found that journalists were not always aware of the
"power their words can have and the prejudices they can awaken." In
late June, Malkova organized a seminar on ethnic tolerance in the
media, funded by the U.S.-based Mott Foundation.
("The Russia Journal," 8-14 July)
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SERBIA
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ALBANIAN-LANGUAGE DAILY DEFIES KOUCHNER MEDIA ORDER. Pristina daily
"Dita" on 30 June published the names and photographs of fifteen Serbs
it alleged had committed war crimes against Albanians. The paper was
suspended for ten days in June by the UN mission in Kosovo after
publishing similar material about a Serb UNMIK employee who was later
found murdered. The paper defied controversial new media regulations
proclaimed by UNMIK head Bernard Kouchner and threats of new
punishments from acting UNMIK media commissioner, Douglas Davidson.
"Dita" published names, photographs, addresses and employment details
of the fifteen Serbs on its front page, accusing them of committing
crimes against Albanians during last year's war.
(ANEM Weekly Report, 1-7 July)
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