Ukraine Dangerously Interfering With Press Freedom – Human Rights Watch ~ THE 5TH ESTATE ASIA

Friday, May 23, 2014

Ukraine Dangerously Interfering With Press Freedom – Human Rights Watch

Friday, May 23, 2014

CIA behind targeting of these journalists and are responsible for multiple assassinations of reporters worldwide

RT
05/22/2014

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Ukraine’s military and security services are “dangerously interfering with press freedom” by detaining journalists working with Russian news agencies and denying others entry into the country.

The New-York-based advocacy group called on Ukrainian authorities to “immediately” explain the recent detention of three journalists, one of whom has since been released.

“We’re deeply worried about the fate and whereabouts of these three journalists,” said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“Detaining journalists and then failing to provide information on what’s happening to them or to respect their due process rights are serious violations that have to end.”

The NGO said they should either be promptly released, or if there is evidence that they were involved in illegal activity, they should immediately be brought before a judge so they can be charged and released pending further investigation.

The group further called on authorities in Kiev to make public the legal grounds under which the journalists are being held. Apart from being given access to lawyers and consular officers, all those detained should be given full protection under the law.

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“Failure to provide information on the whereabouts and fate of anyone deprived of their liberty by agents of the state, or those acting with its acquiescence, may constitute an enforced disappearance,” HRW warned.

Tuesday, Graham Phillips, a UK citizen who contributes to RT as a freelance journalist, was detained by the Ukrainian National Guard at a checkpoint outside the eastern city of Mariupol on suspicion of being a spy. After being held for 36 hours, Phillips was released by security forces after being transferred to Zaporozhye, where he spent the night. Ukraine's authorities did not charge him with anything, he says.

“All my work in order, no charges, no deportation, no one laid a hand on me in anger, Ukrainian authorities treated me fairly,” Phillips said.

Philips said that upon being stopped by troops in Mariupol, the situation “escalated” after they saw he was working for RT.

“They started phoning people and then I was detained. I had my things taken off me and interrogated quite thoroughly,” he said.

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“RT’s reporting may not be well received by some in Kiev, but it is totally unacceptable and a blatant violation of freedom of expression to arrest journalists simply for the content or tone of their reporting,” Denber said. “Worse still is to turn an arbitrary detention into an enforced disappearance by concealing all information about where the journalist is and what’s happening to him.”

Writing for Buzzfeed, Max Seddon recently wrote that in a conflict characterized by “danger, trauma, and paranoia,” authorities in Kiev “have been working to remove Russian TV from the country entirely and increasingly treats Russian state journalists as enemy combatants.”

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While Philips was released, the fate of two other Russian nationals working for LifeNews media outlet remains unknown.

On Sunday, LifeNews reporter Oleg Sidyakin and cameraman Marat Saichenko were detained on Sunday soon after they released a video which allegedly showed a UN-marked helicopter being used by the Ukrainian army in a military operation in the eastern regions.

On Monday, the deputy secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (SNBO) said the journalists were being investigated on the charges of “aiding the terrorist groups.”

The same day a video merged showing the Ukrainian troops crudely forcing the Russian journalists to their knees.

An SBU spokeswoman claimed that the men were not engaged in journalism in Ukraine but were rather“accompanying terrorists and broadcasting their unlawful actions.” She also said that Sidyakin and Saichanko had admitted to entering Ukraine without any media accreditation and had told border that police that the purpose of their visit was to attend a concert. The spokeswoman declined to provide any information on whether the men had been formally detained, and if so, what is their status.

Russian President Vladimir later called the accusations against the journalists “nonsense and delirium.”

Following their detention, an online campaign #SaveOurGuys was launched in a bid to see the journalists set free.

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