GREEK HELSINKI MONITOR
(Greek National Committee of the International Helsinki Federation)
& MINORITY RIGHTS GROUP - GREECE
(Greek Affiliate of Minority Rights Group International)
P.O. Box 51393, GR-14510 Kifisia, Greece; tel. 30-1-620.01.20; fax: 30-1-807.57.67;
e-mail: office@greekhelsinki.gr      web site: http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/
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PRESS RELEASE

Topic: Open letter to Yugoslav authorities protesting efforts to restrict independent media

We distribute the latest release of Human Rights Watch

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OPEN LETTER

Human Rights Watch
350 Fifth Ave.  34th floor
NY, NY.  10118
Telephone: 212-216-1270
Facsimile: 212-736-1300
E-mail: Abrahaf@hrw.org
 

OPEN LETTER
For Release on February 16, 1998

To: Yugoslav President Slobodon Milosevic
                      fax 38111-3111668
      Serbian President Milan Milutinovic
                      fax 38111-684679
      Yugoslav Minister of Foreign Affairs Zivadin Jovanovic
                      fax  38111-681572
      Yugoslav Min. of Transport and Telecommun. Dojcilo Radojevic
                      fax 38111-3244414
      Serbian Minister of Information Radmila Milentijevic
                      fax 38111-685937
      Yugoslav Secretary for Information Goran Matic
                      fax 38111-600446
 

                                                                                                        February 16, 1998
Dear Sirs:

   Human Rights Watch, the largest U.S.-based human rights organization, condemns your
government's ongoing attempts to restrict the independent media in the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia (FRY). Your consistent unwillingness to establish a clear and democratic set
of laws to regulate the electronic media violates your government's obligations under
Serbian, Yugoslav, and international law to guarantee freedom of the press and freedom
of expression.
   The open bid for temporary radio and television frequencies, announced on February 6,
only complicates the matter. Like the laws regulating the electronic media, the legal
procedures for the open bid are confusing, inconsistent, and in contradiction with other
Serbian and Yugoslav laws. For example, only companies that are registered with the
Ministry of Information and the Commercial Court may submit a bid. But this requirement
contradicts Serbian law since, according to the Law on Radio Television, a company first
needs a frequency in order to register with these bodies. The cost of participating in the
bid, the technical conditions required, and the documents needed from other government-
run agencies are insurmountable barriers for the private radio and television stations that
exist in FRY.
   Human Rights Watch views the most recent open bid as a continuation of the
government's policy to deny, through complicated and unduly burdensome legal
procedures, frequencies to those radio and television stations that do not conform to the
state's narrow definition of "acceptable information." These stations are allowed to operate,
thereby demonstrating to the international community an apparent respect for free speech.
But, as the past has demonstrated, the government may close down a private radio or
television station without a licence at any time. An estimated 300 private radio stations and
100 private television stations in FRY are currently in this precarious position. In contrast,
government-run stations or commercial stations with close ties to the government, like
Radio Kosava or BKTV, have consistently obtained licences and are free to broadcast
without interference.
   In mid-1997, for example, the government closed seventy-seven independent,
opposition-run or commercial television and radio stations on the basis that they were
"illegal." Many of the stations did not posses the proper licenses, in fact because the
government consistently refused to grant licenses to stations that broadcast critical views
of the state.

Human Rights Watch therefore calls on the FRY government to:

*   To prepare new media laws and regulations, in full consultation with the independent
media in Yugoslavia, that guarantee freedom of expression in television and radio.
Concrete changes in the Serbian Law on Radio Television, the Serbian Law on
Communication Systems, the Serbian Laws on Public Information, the Federal Law on
Communication Systems, and the Federal Law on Public Information should guarantee
that broadcast licenses are distributed and regulated by an independent body without
regard to political considerations.

*   Until a new series of federal and republican laws are introduced, permit all currently
licensed, and all unlicensed but currently operating, radio and television stations to
broadcast without interference. No regulation of the airwaves should take place until
Yugoslavia has a new set of media laws and regulations that guarantee free expression in
accordance with international standards.

*   Consult with the independent media and its organizations, such as the Association of
Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), on a regular basis about ways to protect and
promote the independent media.

   Human Rights Watch will continue to monitor the development of FRY's media
legislation and its application. We note that freedom of the media is a fundamental
requirement for lifting the outer wall of sanctions currently in place against FRY and
reintegrating the country into the international community.

                               Yours,

                               [signed]

                               Holly Cartner
                               Executive Director
                               Europe and Central Asia Division

cc:  Richard Miles, United States Embassy in Belgrade
      Robert Gelbard, U.S. Special Envoy to the Balkans
      Bronislav Geremek, OSCE Chairman-in-Office
      Robin Cook, E.U. Council of Ministers
      U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the former Yugoslavia
 

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH BACKGROUND

The Electronic Media in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

   The broadcast media in Serbia is regulated by five laws: the Serbian Law on Radio and
Television, the Laws on Connection Systems (Serbian and federal), and the Laws on
Public Information (Serbian and federal). In addition, a number of state bodies are involved
in regulation, including the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications, the Ministry of
Information and the commercial courts. Many of the relevant laws and regulations are
contradictory and allow the government to grant or deny licenses to those stations it
desires. For example, under current regulations, the Yugoslav Ministry of Transport and
Telecommunications requires applicants for a broadcast license to provide proof that the
station has been registered as a public media outlet at the Ministry of Information and at
the appropriate commercial court. But these documents cannot be obtained without first
having a license from the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications. Even taken
individually, Serbia's broadcast laws do not guarantee that licenses will be allocated on a
non-discriminatory basis. Article 5 of Serbia's Law on Radio and Television gives the
government a very broad discretional right to grant licenses, while article 10 (6) of the
same law allows the government to revoke licenses under vague terms. Article 7 of the
law obliges the government to hold an open auction for frequencies once a year, but the
last auction was held in 1994.

   As a result, since 1989 independent radio and television stations (like Radio B-92 or
Radio Boom 93) have been repeatedly denied a license without an explanation even
though they apparently met all of the criteria, while stations that were either blatantly pro-
Milosevic or, at least, commercial and wholly uncritical (like RTV Pink or BK TV) easily
obtained licenses for large parts of Serbia. The most extreme example was Radio Kosava,
run by Milosevic's daughter, Marija, which obtained a frequency by government decree
without even submitting an application.

   The independent broadcast media was, therefore, severely limited in its effectiveness,
leaving the state controlled television and radio to disseminate government propaganda
unchallenged, as in the past. Many people in Serbia and abroad blame the state media for
encouraging the war in former Yugoslavia by distorting facts and promoting xenophobic,
extreme nationalist views.

   Despite these barriers, Serbia's independent radio and television stations played an
important role during the 1996-97 demonstrations by disseminating information, often
directly from the streets, that offered an alternative to government propaganda. Unlike
during the war, which was never fought inside Serbia, audiences could contrast the state
media's coverage with their daily experiences at home. The daily audience of the larger
stations, specifically Radio B-92 and Radio Index in Belgrade, rose to over one million.
Smaller stations throughout Serbia rebroadcast B-92's transmission, thus providing many
people in the countryside with an alternative to the state-run media, which was
misrepresenting the purpose and scale of the demonstrations. In acknowledgment of their
effectiveness, the government attempted to ban or close a large number of radio stations,
including Radio B-92 itself, which responded by sending daily news over the Internet.

   Most often, the state justified the closures by claiming that the station in question did not
have the proper license to broadcast. In most cases, this was true, a consequence in large
part of the government's persistent refusal to grant such licenses to independent radio or
television stations. Many of the stations that were closed following the November 1996
elections, all of them either independent or oppositional, had been operating without
interference for the past three or more years, suggesting that they were closed strictly for
political reasons.

   In May 1997, the Serbian Minister of Information, Radmila Milentijevic, promised that
there would be democratic reform in the electronic media and that no private television or
radio station would be shut down before the September 21 elections. Despite this, on June
2, the Yugoslav Minister for Transport and Telecommunications, Dojcilo Radojevic,
announced the need to "establish order in the broadcast media." All "pirate" radio and
television stations, he declared, would be permanently banned if they failed to apply for a
temporary broadcast license by June 30, 1997. However, the ministry did not clarify which
documents were required to apply for a temporary license or on what criteria applications
would be considered. According to journalists and the Association of Independent
Broadcast Media, a local network of independent radio and television stations, the
procedure at that time for submitting the application was confusing and contradictory.

   Shortly after the June 30 deadline, and in some cases before the deadline, the
government initiated a coordinated campaign among the Ministry of Transport and
Telecommunications, the criminal police, the financial police and various government
agencies to shut down more than seventy-five radio and television stations across Serbia
and confiscate some of their equipment without warning, even though some of the stations
had submitted all of the necessary documentation. All of the closed stations were either
independent, run by the opposition or commercial and unconnected to the government.

   On February 6, the government announced another open bid for temporary radio and
television frequencies, even though it had never replied to the bids submitted in June
1997. To apply for a bid, stations must meet a number of criteria, such as be registered at
the Ministry of Information and Commercial Court, have the proper licences for electronics
and construction, and provide an as-yet undisclosed fee.
 

For more information about the media in FRY see the following sources:

     Human Rights Watch report,
                  "Discouraging Democracy: Elections and Human Rights in Serbia", 12/96
     Radio B92 website: http://www.opennet.org
     ANEM website: http://207.10.94.56/anem
     Committee to Protect Journalists website: http://www.cpj.org
     Press Now website: http://www.dds.nl/~pressnow
     MedienHilfe website: http://www.medienhilfe.ch
     Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia website http://www.helsinki.org.yu