RI media greet press freedom day with concern

JAKARTA (JP): Repression and minimal respect for the journalism profession are among the causes of concern for the Indonesian media as it greets World Press Freedom Day today, according to an observer.

Senior journalist Atmakusumah acknowledged in an interview with Antara yesterday that efforts to facilitate the freedom of the press have been made by both the government and society but several incidents have shown much was still wanting.

The murder of Yogyakarta journalist Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin in 1996, which remains unsolved, was a case in point, said Atmakusumah, who is also the director of the Dr. Soetomo Press Institute.

"Freedom of expression through the mass media is still limited (by the existence of the) publishing license (SIUPP)... and the law on the press and its regulations.

"The situation calls for our concern as we commemorate world press freedom day," he said.

In 1994, three weeklies -- Tempo, Editor, and DeTik, had their licenses revoked -- a move which effectively killed the publications.

Atmakusumah remained optimistic that harassment, arrests and even murder, which constitute some of the risks facing Indonesian journalists, were not government policies but rather aberrations committed by lower-level officials.

"In order to be protected from any actions that may cause either physical or psychological suffering, (journalists) need to be so careful," he said.

The Indonesian media has been rapped over the knuckles several times in the last few months. President Soeharto has, on several occasions, gone on the record criticizing them for, among other things, publishing inaccurate reports.

Reuters reported from New York that the leaders of Nigeria, Myanmar, Belarus, Cuba and Indonesia were among 10 "enemies of the press" named Thursday by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

The New York-based non-profit organization that seeks to safeguard press freedom said the list of leaders from around the world were selected "for their relentless campaigns of suppression of journalists".

The leaders of the ten countries "are intent upon suppressing any independent media voice, through whatever means necessary," CPJ executive director William Orne Jr. said in a statement.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a statement to mark World Press Freedom Day, defined the freedom of the press as something that "ultimately implies freedom for reporters, broadcasters and editors to work without interference or coercion -- governmental, political or commercial -- in telling the true story."

"It means the freedom to report events or express opinions guided solely by the highest standards of professional ethics," he said. "Only then can journalists be assured of their role in sensitizing the conscience of societies and in protecting the rights of individuals in all spheres."

He cited CPJ data that 26 journalists were murdered in 1997 and 129 imprisoned. "Over the past decade, the organization has reported the murders of 474 journalists," Annan said.

Antara reported that Director General of UNESCO Federico Mayor said that any setback for freedom of expression and freedom of the press was a setback for democracy.

The organization "will place itself at the disposal of both sides when conflicts arise. It will pressure governments to investigate serious violations and it will help to fund observatories to assist the free exercise of the profession of journalism," Mayor said in a statement.

Only well-informed people can take their destiny in hand, participate in the democratic functioning of the institutions and work for enduring peace.

According to Mayor, World Press Freedom Day is of special importance this year as the world is also celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (swe)