  On Tuesday 4 October a new database, “Russia – Conflicts in the Media”, documenting media violations (http://mediaconflictsinrussia.org), was launched in Moscow at the Journalists Club, 4 Gogolevsky Boulevard, at 3 pm. Monitoring and combatting impunity in Russia The first stage of the Impunity Project concluded in June
2009 with the launch of the report “Partial Justice” and of a database
documenting (in English and Russian) the deaths and disappearances of
journalists in Russia since 1993 (http://journalists-in-russia.org). Together
they set the targeted killing of journalists within the general context of
violence in Russia and, more specifically, of the Chechen conflict,
work-related accidents, and the horrific annual toll of homicide and attempted
murder. The report and database were prepared by a partnership between the International Federation of Journalists (Brussels) and, in Moscow, the Russian Union of Journalists and the country’s two monitoring organisations, the Glasnost Defence Foundation and the Centre for Journalism in Extreme Situations. The new database The new resource documents, on an almost daily basis, a wide range of incidents – from censorship and criminal prosecution to threats and assaults. It derives its information from the monitoring [ http://www.gdf.ru/digest/item/1/901 ] that the Glasnost Defence Foundation and its regional network of correspondents have been conducting since the early 1990s. “Conflicts in the Media” records a disturbing level of violence against journalists, and an even more worrying lack of response by the authorities. It also tells the story of successful battles in the courts against unlawful dismissal, unfounded charges of defamation and allegations that a journalist has incited hatred against various groups in society. Most important of all, perhaps, it gives a voice to journalists working in the regional and municipal media (TV, internet and the local press) who face very different conditions to their Moscow colleagues. Providing a detailed and constantly updated record of what is happening in all parts of Russia, the database offers an opportunity to campaign against abuses, to detect developing situations in particular regions, and to take appropriate measures when a specific individual or media outlet becomes the target of a sustained campaign of harassment and intimidation. Contacts BORIS TIMOSHENKO, GDF head of monitoring (Moscow), boris@gdf.ru, tel. +7 (495) 637 4947 JOHN CROWFOOT, IFJ analyst (London), crowfoot@uwclub.net NADIA AZHGIKHINA, RUJ executive secretary (Moscow) azh@ruj.ru |
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