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CPJ Executive Director Responds to Criticism over Turkey Report
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2012/11/04/cpj-executive-director-responds-to-criticism-on-turkey-report/
November 4, 2012
By Joel Simon
Last week's release of the Committee to Protect Journalists' (CPJ)
report on Turkey's press freedom crisis generated widespread domestic
media coverage and sparked a robust public debate. The response from
Turkish journalists and commentators was largely positive, but there
were some negative reactions as well. Turkey's Justice Ministry has
promised a detailed response this week. Here is a summary of the
criticism we received during several days of intensive media
interviews, along with our responses.
Over a four-month period, our researchers reviewed lists of detainees
compiled by the Turkish Justice Ministry and local and international
groups, examined indictments, consulted underlying legal documents,
interviewed defense lawyers, spoke with journalists covering the
cases, and evaluated the published, first-hand accounts of the
defendants themselves.
CPJ has a political agenda in Turkey. Not true. CPJ has worked for 31
years to defend the rights of journalists around the world. We are
non-partisan, non-ideological, and independent. We do not accept any
government funding. As journalists ourselves, our sole interest is
ensuring that our media colleagues in Turkey are able to work freely,
without intimidation or the threat of jail. As background, the last
time our organization was this active in Turkey was in the 1990's when
authorities jailed as many as 78 journalists as part of a widespread
crackdown. Many of those jailed at the time were journalists who wrote
from a religious perspective and were persecuted for their views. When
we included them on our list of imprisoned journalists, we were
harshly criticized by the Turkish government'under different
leadership at the time 'and by much of the media establishment. We
stood our ground and fought for the release of every single imprisoned
journalist. Today we are guided by the same principles. No journalist
should be imprisoned for his or her work.
You were duped by your Turkish researchers. False. The report was an
organization-wide project and was written by experienced senior staff,
under the coordination of our editorial director, Bill Sweeney, and
our Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Nina Ognianova. Our
team of highly capable Turkish researchers, led by Ã-zgür Ã-Ä?ret, was
responsible for researching the cases of jailed journalists, which is
an appendix to the main report. The case research was rigorous. Over a
four-month period, our researchers reviewed lists of detainees
compiled by the Turkish Justice Ministry and local and international
groups, examined indictments, consulted underlying legal documents,
interviewed defense lawyers, spoke with journalists covering the
cases, and evaluated the published, first-hand accounts of the
defendants themselves. Ã-Ä?ret traveled to New York to work alongside
our editorial director throughout the editing process. Our research
team provided the data, but CPJ staff made the determination on how to
classify each imprisoned case. In compiling the main report, CPJ staff
traveled to Turkey on three fact-finding missions in 2011 and 2012,
meeting with dozens of journalists, analysts, and lawyers. The report
was an institutional effort, and as executive director I take full
responsibility for its contents.
No one can trust your data because your last report cited just eight
Turkish journalists in jail. In December 2011, CPJ published its
prison census, which we have been compiling and publishing annually
since 1985. This was not a special report on Turkey, but rather a
global survey of every country in the world. In an open letter to
Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an on Dec. 22, 2011, CPJ wrote that we believed
there were many other journalists in prison in Turkey, in addition to
the cases confirmed in the census. We committed to carrying out a
systematic review of those cases to determine whether they were in
fact jailed for their professional work as journalists. We have now
completed that review and have confirmed that a total of 61
journalists are in jail in Turkey for their work. We also researched
an additional 15 cases, but did not classify them as confirmed either
because there was insufficient information to determine whether they
were jailed for their journalism, or because they may have been jailed
in retaliation for their political activism. CPJ's next global prison
census will be published in December.
It's absurd for CPJ to suggest that Turkey is more repressive than
Iran or Eritrea. It is absurd, and we would never suggest it. What we
reported, based on diligent research, is the objective fact that
Turkey has more journalists in jail than either country. We recognize
that Turkey is an emerging democracy, economic success story, and
regional leader. The public debate about our report indicates just how
lively and vibrant the media in Turkey can be. However, the nation's
inarguable position as the world's leading jailer of journalists
invites inevitable comparisons to other countries that jail
journalists.
Turkey's press freedom problems involve more than imprisonments. We
agree. Although the imprisonment of journalists is a focal point, our
report explores a broad range of threats to freedom of the press. We
examine the routine prosecution of journalists on criminal charges
related to newsgathering; the use of government pressure to instill
self-censorship in the media; and the failure to reform vaguely worded
penal and anti-terror statutes that are applied regularly against the
press.
The language you used in your report was unduly harsh and insulting.
We respectfully disagree. The report was critical but fair. It was
meticulously researched and fact-checked, and our conclusions and
analyses were supported by detailed evidence. We used direct but
measured language to communicate the reality that the Turkish media is
currently under extreme pressure and that dozens of journalists are
now in jail for their work.
CPJ is not the judge and jury. It's up to the Turkish courts to
determine guilt and innocence. We agree. Our role is to review the
available evidence and to make informed public judgments about whether
the facts support the very serious charges leveled against the
journalists cited in our report. We hope that Turkish authorities will
carry out a similar exercise and decline to pursue cases in which
there is insufficient evidence to win convictions. While we believe
that none of the 61 cases have merit, we also are ready to examine any
new evidence that arises. If warranted, we are prepared to adjust our
conclusions. We are asking to meet with Turkish officials in Ankara
next month and we are hopeful that a productive exchange will take
place.
Joel Simon is the executive director of CPJ, a New York-based,
independent, non-profit organization that works to safeguard press
freedom worldwide.
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2012/11/04/cpj-executive-director-responds-to-criticism-on-turkey-report/
November 4, 2012
By Joel Simon
Last week's release of the Committee to Protect Journalists' (CPJ)
report on Turkey's press freedom crisis generated widespread domestic
media coverage and sparked a robust public debate. The response from
Turkish journalists and commentators was largely positive, but there
were some negative reactions as well. Turkey's Justice Ministry has
promised a detailed response this week. Here is a summary of the
criticism we received during several days of intensive media
interviews, along with our responses.
Over a four-month period, our researchers reviewed lists of detainees
compiled by the Turkish Justice Ministry and local and international
groups, examined indictments, consulted underlying legal documents,
interviewed defense lawyers, spoke with journalists covering the
cases, and evaluated the published, first-hand accounts of the
defendants themselves.
CPJ has a political agenda in Turkey. Not true. CPJ has worked for 31
years to defend the rights of journalists around the world. We are
non-partisan, non-ideological, and independent. We do not accept any
government funding. As journalists ourselves, our sole interest is
ensuring that our media colleagues in Turkey are able to work freely,
without intimidation or the threat of jail. As background, the last
time our organization was this active in Turkey was in the 1990's when
authorities jailed as many as 78 journalists as part of a widespread
crackdown. Many of those jailed at the time were journalists who wrote
from a religious perspective and were persecuted for their views. When
we included them on our list of imprisoned journalists, we were
harshly criticized by the Turkish government'under different
leadership at the time 'and by much of the media establishment. We
stood our ground and fought for the release of every single imprisoned
journalist. Today we are guided by the same principles. No journalist
should be imprisoned for his or her work.
You were duped by your Turkish researchers. False. The report was an
organization-wide project and was written by experienced senior staff,
under the coordination of our editorial director, Bill Sweeney, and
our Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Nina Ognianova. Our
team of highly capable Turkish researchers, led by Ã-zgür Ã-Ä?ret, was
responsible for researching the cases of jailed journalists, which is
an appendix to the main report. The case research was rigorous. Over a
four-month period, our researchers reviewed lists of detainees
compiled by the Turkish Justice Ministry and local and international
groups, examined indictments, consulted underlying legal documents,
interviewed defense lawyers, spoke with journalists covering the
cases, and evaluated the published, first-hand accounts of the
defendants themselves. Ã-Ä?ret traveled to New York to work alongside
our editorial director throughout the editing process. Our research
team provided the data, but CPJ staff made the determination on how to
classify each imprisoned case. In compiling the main report, CPJ staff
traveled to Turkey on three fact-finding missions in 2011 and 2012,
meeting with dozens of journalists, analysts, and lawyers. The report
was an institutional effort, and as executive director I take full
responsibility for its contents.
No one can trust your data because your last report cited just eight
Turkish journalists in jail. In December 2011, CPJ published its
prison census, which we have been compiling and publishing annually
since 1985. This was not a special report on Turkey, but rather a
global survey of every country in the world. In an open letter to
Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an on Dec. 22, 2011, CPJ wrote that we believed
there were many other journalists in prison in Turkey, in addition to
the cases confirmed in the census. We committed to carrying out a
systematic review of those cases to determine whether they were in
fact jailed for their professional work as journalists. We have now
completed that review and have confirmed that a total of 61
journalists are in jail in Turkey for their work. We also researched
an additional 15 cases, but did not classify them as confirmed either
because there was insufficient information to determine whether they
were jailed for their journalism, or because they may have been jailed
in retaliation for their political activism. CPJ's next global prison
census will be published in December.
It's absurd for CPJ to suggest that Turkey is more repressive than
Iran or Eritrea. It is absurd, and we would never suggest it. What we
reported, based on diligent research, is the objective fact that
Turkey has more journalists in jail than either country. We recognize
that Turkey is an emerging democracy, economic success story, and
regional leader. The public debate about our report indicates just how
lively and vibrant the media in Turkey can be. However, the nation's
inarguable position as the world's leading jailer of journalists
invites inevitable comparisons to other countries that jail
journalists.
Turkey's press freedom problems involve more than imprisonments. We
agree. Although the imprisonment of journalists is a focal point, our
report explores a broad range of threats to freedom of the press. We
examine the routine prosecution of journalists on criminal charges
related to newsgathering; the use of government pressure to instill
self-censorship in the media; and the failure to reform vaguely worded
penal and anti-terror statutes that are applied regularly against the
press.
The language you used in your report was unduly harsh and insulting.
We respectfully disagree. The report was critical but fair. It was
meticulously researched and fact-checked, and our conclusions and
analyses were supported by detailed evidence. We used direct but
measured language to communicate the reality that the Turkish media is
currently under extreme pressure and that dozens of journalists are
now in jail for their work.
CPJ is not the judge and jury. It's up to the Turkish courts to
determine guilt and innocence. We agree. Our role is to review the
available evidence and to make informed public judgments about whether
the facts support the very serious charges leveled against the
journalists cited in our report. We hope that Turkish authorities will
carry out a similar exercise and decline to pursue cases in which
there is insufficient evidence to win convictions. While we believe
that none of the 61 cases have merit, we also are ready to examine any
new evidence that arises. If warranted, we are prepared to adjust our
conclusions. We are asking to meet with Turkish officials in Ankara
next month and we are hopeful that a productive exchange will take
place.
Joel Simon is the executive director of CPJ, a New York-based,
independent, non-profit organization that works to safeguard press
freedom worldwide.