OHR condemns another reported attack on an NGO and a TV crew working for Federation TV’s 60 minutes program.
Violence and attacks of any kind against journalists and NGOs are unacceptable and can not be tolerated in a democratic society .
OHR is in close contact with EUPM and is closely monitoring the events.
Today’s attack is part of a very worrying trend. Expressing their concern about media freedom in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Acting High Representative Raffi Gregorian and Head of the OSCE Mission Gary Robbins wrote to the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti. In their letter they ask Mr Haraszti to make an assessment of the media situation in the whole of BiH, as in 2008 there were 56 documented cases of violation of journalists’ rights and media freedoms, a 100% increase compared to 2007. Of these, 25 were cases of physical attacks, threats and dead threats, frequently targeting specific media and institutions: BHRT, FTV program “60 minutes”, Public Radio and Television of the Federation BiH and the Communication Regulatory Agency.