H.E. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin
President
The Kremlin
Moscow
Russia

Via Fax: + 7095 206 5173

Vienna, 27 July 2001

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and media executives, is deeply worried about the Russian army’s latest attempt to censor journalists covering developments in Chechnya.

According to IPI’s sources, on 26 July, journalists based in Khankala, the Russian military headquarters for Chechnya, were told by army officials that when covering the military conflict in Chechnya, in addition to obtaining permission, they would have to be accompanied by officials from the Interior Ministry’s press centre. In addition, the army said it would also set up its own broadcasting facilities to provide alternative coverage of the conflict. Reportedly, the decision was taken after the Chief of the Armed Forces, Anatoly Kvashnin, criticised journalists for only reporting on negative aspects of the conflict between the Russian army and Chechen separatists.

On the same day of the announcement, a group of journalists who tried to travel from Khankala to the city of Grozny to meet with representatives of the Chechen government, were stopped by soldiers at a checkpoint and told they could not pass unless accompanied by a press official. When asked who made the ultimate decision on the movement of journalists, Fedor Asalkhanov, head of the Russian Interior Ministry’s press centre for the North Caucasus, said “we usually agree on this [with journalists]. If our interests coincide, then we go together with journalists and prepare material on the relevant subject.”

IPI believes that the decision to impose additional restraints on journalists operating in Chechnya is further evidence that Russian authorities have established a putative blanket ban on critical reporting from the republic. Furthermore, considering that several independent journalists travelling alone in the region have been subject to arbitrary arrest, it would appear that this latest effort is aimed at providing the army with official powers to target individual reporters that do not represent the official view.

Examples reinforcing this view include the arrest by Russian troops of Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist with Novaya Gazeta, on 20 February in southern Chechnya for failing to register her whereabouts with a military press office and the 15 January 2000 arrest of Andrei Babitsky, a journalist with Radio Liberty. Politkovskaya and Babitsky belong to the small group of journalists that work in Chechnya independently of Russian troops and both have been critical of Russia’s military efforts.

Moreover, several journalists have been arbitrarily detained, beaten and denied access by Russian troops. Newspapers publishing material deemed subversive, such as interviews with Chechen leaders, have received warnings from the authorities. Violations such as these, fly in the face of internationally accepted standards.

IPI would like to reiterate its concern that the decision to impose further restrictions on the media could be used by the Russian army as justification to target journalists in response to their reporting. Article 10 of the European Convention for Human Rights, to which Russia is a signatory, states that everyone “has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.”

While acknowledging that a military conflict provides less than ideal circumstances in which to facilitate the safe access of journalists to all combat zones, IPI still wishes to stress the importance of assisting the media when covering developments in Chechnya. A war waged in the name of a nation concerns all citizens of that nation and, as such, informative, objective and comprehensive coverage should be available to all citizens.

Therefore, IPI urges Your Excellency to ensure that the order to restrict the movement of reporters is reversed and that journalists are allowed to report on developments in Chechnya freely and safely. Moreover, it is important to create awareness among Russian soldiers that attacks on journalists will not be tolerated and that representatives of the media should be treated with respect. Holding a public inquiry into attacks against journalists would be an important step towards this objective.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director