Key points in Jakarta Declaration

Wed, 12/17/2008 11:11 AM World

With more than 1,400 journalists and media workers killed around the world in the line of duty between 1996 and 2008, the International News Safety Institute (INSI) unveiled a Jakarta Declaration at the end of its two-day conference on Tuesday in which it called on governments and media organizations for greater work safety.

*Governments are responsible for the safety of all of their citizens, including news media. They must end the culture of impunity in which journalists are murdered.

*News organizations are responsible for providing appropriate safety and trauma training, equipment and insurance for death or disability when their employees cover dangerous stories. Such provisions must cover all staff and freelancers.

*Journalists and media owners should discuss and agree on appropriate operational procedures governing safety and trauma.

*Journalists and other news media staff and freelancers must help and assist one another in hostile environments.

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Reporters told to watch their own backs

ID Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Tue, 12/16/2008 11:06 AM The Archipelago

A regional conference on journalist safety concluded that the government, media organizations, professional organizations and journalists themselves should ensure the safety of reporters in the field.

It said all aforementioned parties should be informed of a journalist's whereabouts as a safety precaution.

Such suggestions were heard during the two-day Regional Conference on Creating a Culture of Safety in the Media in Asia Pacific, which began Monday.

The 60 journalists from 11 countries gathered at the forum said that safety conditions for reporters were improving, but agreed further precautions, including awareness of safety measures, were crucial.

ABC Australia's Peter Cave said journalists were now more cautious.

"There is a rising trend in the awareness over journalists' safety now, compared to when I started covering news. This is very important," he said.

However, Maria Ressa of the Philippines voiced the need for special regulations for journalists to increase safety conditions.

"There should be a protocol implemented in a particular area on that matter (journalist safety), such as what to do in a certain condition," said Ressa from ABS-SBN television station in the Philippines.

She said the protocol should not only be disseminated among journalists but also other parties, such as governments and the public, to increase understanding and coordination in an emergency situation.

Insany, a Televisi Pendidikan Indonesia (TPI) reporter in Ambon, Maluku, cited the dangers faced by journalists reporting on sectarian violence in Ambon.

"Journalists were absolutely subject to danger during the conflict. The people and military had placed journalists in a position in which they could become victims at any moment," he said.

"The military should have protected them, but instead placed their lives in jeopardy."

Alwyn Alburo, from the Philippines' GMA 7 News, said journalists were not protected in the Philippines.

"We just want to hear a statement to stop violence against journalists from the president of the Philippines," he said.

Based on a report released by the International News Safety Institute (INSI), 13 journalists have been killed in Indonesia so far, giving the country the 19th highest death toll out of countries in which journalists have died in the field.

The Philippines is ranked five on the list with 54 deaths, while Iraq tops the death list with 106.

INSI director Rodney Pinder said reporters should be provided with training and "safety devises".

"INSI is aware that it's costly, but their safety is paramount," Rodney said.

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Myanmar journalists face intimidation, pressure from junta

ID Nugroho and Lilian Budianto , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Wed, 12/17/2008 11:14 AM World

Journalists working in military-ruled Myanmar continue to face intimidation, torture and arrests in reporting on the country's corrupt and brutal regime, despite international calls for more press freedom, a conference on media safety heard Tuesday.

A Myanmar journalist, who asked not to be identified, told the conference that contrary to government claims, journalists in the country were treated as "dangerous enemies".

"There is no freedom for Burmese journalists to write about political and social conflicts," he said while asking that pictures of him and his colleague not be taken, out of safety concerns.

The Regional Conference on Creating a Culture of Safety in the Media in Asia-Pacific was organized by the International News Safety Institute (INSI) from Dec. 15-16, and brought together participants from 11 countries.

Mon Mon Myat, of the Burmese Journalist Protection Committee, said the junta had set up rules under a 2006 law on electronic media and 1996 law on film and computers that restricted how journalists could work.

Under the laws, journalists are not allowed to take pictures that might "pose a threat" to the government, with offenders facing up to 59 years in prison. Internet users are also under strict surveillance by the government, which requires service providers to check every five minutes websites visited by users and to immediately report suspicious or dangerous activities.

In 2008, 12 journalists and bloggers were arrested in Myanmar, the protection committee says. Several popular websites, including yahoo.com and hotmail.com, have also been blocked as the junta further isolates its people from the outside world.

"Eighty percent of Internet sites are banned by the government," said Ronald Aung Naing of the Burmese Journalist Protection Committee.

He added the government also monitored people regularly at checkpoints for cameras or video cameras with "dangerous" content.

Eko Maryadi, of the Indonesian Alliance of Independent Journalists, told the forum that although media freedom in Indonesia had improved since the fall in 1998 of former president Soeharto's 32-year regime, journalists still faced intimidation, harassment and lawsuits in reporting on certain issues.

"We have also seen more business groups filing complaints against journalists, claiming the reports harmed their reputation or business. This was rare in the past," he said.

The latest such case is the complaint filed by the Bakrie Group against Tempo daily over its reports on the financial problems of the group's top subsidiary, PT Bumi Resources.

The alliance recorded 43 cases of violence against journalists in 2005, with 53 in 2006, 75 in 2007 and 52 cases as of September this year.

The conference closed with a declaration calling on all governments in the region to take responsibility for the safety of all journalists working in their countries and to lift impunity for groups that had endangered the lives of journalists.