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Today's Zaman, Turkey
Jan 27 2012
OSCE representative hopeful French court will undo legislative mistake
27 January 2012 / SEYÄ°T ARSLAN, VIENNA
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
representative Dunja Mijatovic has reiterated the organization's
concern about a French bill that makes it a crime to deny the killing
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 constituted genocide in France,
saying the bill could have negative global impacts on freedom of
expression.
Following her visit to Turkey in mid-December, Mijatovic, the OSCE
representative for freedom of the media, told Today's Zaman in an
interview of her positive experience during her first visit to Turkey
in her current position. Underlining that she was welcomed with `open
doors' by Turkey and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu, she
noted that there was an excellent cooperation from Turkey, and that
she was able to attend all meetings she wanted to, and visit jailed
journalists, which she regarded as a big step in enlarging freedoms of
media in the country.
During the interview, Mijatovic informed Today's Zaman about her
initiative regarding the French bill that is about to become a law,
waiting on the final signature from French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
`One of our tools is early warning, before the legislation is
adopted,' she stated, noting that she resorted to `quiet diplomacy'
and got in contact with the chairperson of the French National
Assembly, and later went public with an announcement that the bill
runs risk of breaching the freedom of expression and press freedom. `I
asked Senate not to adopt the law, but they adopted it,' she added.
`I am in contact with French officials, and I do hope, even at this
very late stage, there are still chances that they might listen to the
voice of civil society,' she said in the hope that calls on the French
parliament that the bill is unconstitutional take effect.
`In this position I hope that the French Constitutional Court will
realize that this is a mistake and can have negative impacts on free
speech globally,' she added in a belief that there is still chance the
law could be retracted. `I am monitoring at moment how my office can
engage in order to change this negative trend,' she said. Mijatovic
also noted that the French bill was one of the many similar cases
monitored by OSCE, and that restrictions on freedom of speech occur
very frequent.
Mijatovic also gave her insight on worldwide attempts at blocking
access to the Internet by governments, saying that it was `a battle
already lost,' and what governments are trying to achieve by blocking
Internet freedom would `come back like a boomerang.' `Instead,
governments could work on increasing Internet literacy,' she advised,
in order to fight terrorism or sexual abuse, which find large venues
on the Internet.
Earlier in December, when the bill passed through the lower house of
the French Parliament, Mijatovic stated that the bill could `set a
precedent internationally for politically construed, ad-hoc
criminalization of public debates.' Mijatovic had also said she feared
the passing of this law by a nation with a great history of press
freedom might prompt other countries in the OSCE region to follow
France's example and similarly criminalize historical statements in
violation of their OSCE commitments that aim at encouraging a free
discussion on issues of public interest. Mijatovic said she had hoped
the French senate would vote down the bill.
From: Baghdasarian
Jan 27 2012
OSCE representative hopeful French court will undo legislative mistake
27 January 2012 / SEYÄ°T ARSLAN, VIENNA
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
representative Dunja Mijatovic has reiterated the organization's
concern about a French bill that makes it a crime to deny the killing
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 constituted genocide in France,
saying the bill could have negative global impacts on freedom of
expression.
Following her visit to Turkey in mid-December, Mijatovic, the OSCE
representative for freedom of the media, told Today's Zaman in an
interview of her positive experience during her first visit to Turkey
in her current position. Underlining that she was welcomed with `open
doors' by Turkey and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu, she
noted that there was an excellent cooperation from Turkey, and that
she was able to attend all meetings she wanted to, and visit jailed
journalists, which she regarded as a big step in enlarging freedoms of
media in the country.
During the interview, Mijatovic informed Today's Zaman about her
initiative regarding the French bill that is about to become a law,
waiting on the final signature from French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
`One of our tools is early warning, before the legislation is
adopted,' she stated, noting that she resorted to `quiet diplomacy'
and got in contact with the chairperson of the French National
Assembly, and later went public with an announcement that the bill
runs risk of breaching the freedom of expression and press freedom. `I
asked Senate not to adopt the law, but they adopted it,' she added.
`I am in contact with French officials, and I do hope, even at this
very late stage, there are still chances that they might listen to the
voice of civil society,' she said in the hope that calls on the French
parliament that the bill is unconstitutional take effect.
`In this position I hope that the French Constitutional Court will
realize that this is a mistake and can have negative impacts on free
speech globally,' she added in a belief that there is still chance the
law could be retracted. `I am monitoring at moment how my office can
engage in order to change this negative trend,' she said. Mijatovic
also noted that the French bill was one of the many similar cases
monitored by OSCE, and that restrictions on freedom of speech occur
very frequent.
Mijatovic also gave her insight on worldwide attempts at blocking
access to the Internet by governments, saying that it was `a battle
already lost,' and what governments are trying to achieve by blocking
Internet freedom would `come back like a boomerang.' `Instead,
governments could work on increasing Internet literacy,' she advised,
in order to fight terrorism or sexual abuse, which find large venues
on the Internet.
Earlier in December, when the bill passed through the lower house of
the French Parliament, Mijatovic stated that the bill could `set a
precedent internationally for politically construed, ad-hoc
criminalization of public debates.' Mijatovic had also said she feared
the passing of this law by a nation with a great history of press
freedom might prompt other countries in the OSCE region to follow
France's example and similarly criminalize historical statements in
violation of their OSCE commitments that aim at encouraging a free
discussion on issues of public interest. Mijatovic said she had hoped
the French senate would vote down the bill.
From: Baghdasarian