CPJ eyes Turkey as World's No 1 Oppressor of Journalists and ECHR Data show new wave of abuse cases

*Strasbourg/- In a timely Synergy between International Organisations' Host Cities of UNO and the CoE, New York and Strasbourg, in the 2014 Edition of its Annual Survey "Attacks against Journalists",  the NY-based Press Freedom Watchdog  "International Committee to protect Journalists" -(CPJ) denounces Turkey as "the World's Worst" Opressor of Media Workers for a 2nd Year in a row,

shortly adter the Annual Statistical Data published by the PanEuropean Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, have just revealed that a New and a Growing Wave of fresh Complaints against Turkish Authorities for Violations of Human Rights at the Highest level among its 47 Member Countries (including Russia, etc), emerged throughout 2013, aggravating recently a Record-High Number of particularly Serious issues, comprising a wide range of Abuses, going from Failures to investigate Killings, to Inhuman/Degrading Treatments, Violations of Freedom of Expression, Discriminations, etc...

=> A worrying Consequence can obviously be that the Violations already denounced in the Recent Past, risk to merge with the currentky Rising Tide of many New and Serious Affairs, provoking a potentialy Explosive exposal of Turkeys persisting and aggravated Failures to abide by the elementary Values of CoE's PanEuropean Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights; which risks to be faced with a crucial Credibility Crisis, (while it approaches .. 20 Years since its First Public Denonciations of grave Human Rights' Violations in Turkey : 1995 - 2015, comp. publication of "Aksoy" and "Akdivar" cases' Reports on Torture/Inhuman-Degrading Treatments).  
Unless COE becomes Conscious of the manifold Risks which threaten its core-Principles and Values, and succeeds to react adequately to Redress the situation, before it becomes too late...

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Turkey among key "Attacks on the Press" as seen by JPJ on 2014 :
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      - "...Turkey was the world's leading Jailer of the Press, with 40 journalists behind bars, according to CPJ's annual prison census", "for the second year in a row", denounces from the outset CPJ's documens published today, on the occasion of its new "Attacks on the Press" global survey.

    + In Additon, Turkish "Authorities continued to Harass and Censor Critical Voices, Firing and forcing the Resignation of almost 60 reporters, in connection with their Coverage" of critcal incidents, (f.ex. "of anti-government protests").

    ++ Moreover, Turkey's "Government tried to Censor coverage of Sensitive events, Threatened to restrict social Media, and, in one case, used social media to wage a Smear campaign against a journalist", CPJ denounced.

    "The jailing of journalists, the conflation of criticism with terrorism, and the (Ankara) Government's heated Anti-Press rhetoric, which emboldened Prosecutors to go after Critics, Marred Turkey's press freedom record", it concludes in substance.

    +++  CPJ also warns against the General Risks with which an arbitrary Internet Surveillance has recenty started to Threaten Journalists' Freedom in everyday practice, by a coincidence shortly after wide Protests against Turkish Govenment's projects to Spy and/or Muzzle Internet Media and even simple use, adding on this obviously Global Issue of the present era.

    ++++ While Turkey's infamous "deep State" obviously persists in attempts to Infiltrate even some Groupings or Associations of Journalists, inside and outside of the Country, according to a welll-known practice of varous Oppressive Regimes in the Past, (from some Tzars in Russia's History up to certain Latin American former Authoritarian and/or Military regimes, etc), CPJ denounces in 2014 a current Risk, already present also in Various other countries accross the World, for  some unscrupulus and oppressive "Journalists (to) participate in the Harassment of officially unpopular Colleagues", with "Attacks (which) have not spared (even) International Media" :

F.ex. "“At a ...  press conference, a ... Reporter was Ejected by his Peers;, while they chanted ‘Out, out,’ and then applauded when he’d gone", even inside the UK, according to a BBC journalist. Elsewhere, "pro-Government Media have shamelessly Invaded the privacy of leading Opponents and Independent Journalists and published Rumors and Lies" against them.  "Countless examples of deliberately ... Unethical behavior from State and pro-Government Media", include, "for instance, (a) Newspaper ... affiliated with the Ruling party, (which) published an article Attacking .. a .. Critical Journalist", also by "Falsely Labeling several of (her) Relatives", etc.  In other such cases, "State Media ... are used as a powerful megaphone to Smear Journalists who do Not toe the Official Line". F.ex. "a pro-Governmental Radio [station], spends its time Slamming radio stations close to Civil Society", etc. "In such countries, Governments Connive with some of the Media to Violate the most basic Ethical norms", including f.ex. by "the placement of Advertising by the State, ...regularly used as a Murky tool to secure Slavish or Toothless Coverage". Such "Arbitrary Pressure is applied at the National level, but its impact is particularly Strong on Smaller, provincial Media outlets, “many of whom are almost completely Financially Dependent on Official Advertising and therefore Vulnerable to Government Pressure over their coverage", etc. "“Brown envelopes” handed to individual Journalists serve the same purpose and have the same effect: they gravely Undermine the Independence and the freedom of the Press". There "where Selective Ad placements and Direct Payments to Reporters are common, this routine is even defended by some Inside the Profession", CPJ denounces Today. Sometimes "Media Owners ...are also constrained by their Business Links with the State, and therefore are susceptible to the latter’s capacity to cajole or punish. In the Worst such cases, the vulnerability to State Pressure occurs when a Media company owns Other Businesses whose prosperity depends on Public Works Tenders or Government Licenses", etc., CPJ warned. "Unethical Journalism can also Trigger Attacks against the Press",  "Weaken solidarity and therefore contribute to the cycle of Violence and Impunity", while "the profession appears ...Divided on how to respond.”  Thus, "one of the most glaring examples of the Negative impact of Ruffian journalism on Freedom" is the " Scandal" of a Mogul-owned Tabloid "Hacking of the voiceMails of celebrities and ordinary Citizens", because "politicians felt obliged to ...adopt... ill-considered and Hasty Regulations that might Chill Press Freedom". In fact, "the Stakes are High. The History of Attacks against the Press tells us that (certain) Journalists ... were Killed because the Ethical Vision of their work led them to Confront Thuggish groups or Corrupt Power Elites. “Journalists who are Committed to their work are killed precisely because they Refuse to be Corrupted and to Submit to Criminal Gangs,” a(n) ...Editor, who asked not to be named because of the security risks", told CPJ.

    - Thus, "in Turkey", "major Privately-owned News Organizations acted as proxy State Censors in several ways, including Abstaining from covering the events, Stigmatizing the Protesters", etc. , f.ex. "during the protests in Taksim Square and Gezi Park in May and June of 2013.... To the continuing Amusement of many, "CNN Türk TV" aired a documentary on Penguins, rather than provide coverage of the Demonstrations, turning Penguins into a national (Turkish) Symbol of self-Censorship". “The country’s ... Newsrooms (are) run by Greedy and Ruthless Media Proprietors, whose Economic Interests make them Submissive to”  Prime Minister ...Erdoğan, wrote ...a ..columnist, who was Fired in July 2013 from ...the daily "Sabah", after writing articles Critical of the Government’s handling of the (recent Popular) movements. “Direct Criticism of (Turkish) Government Policies on the Kurds, Syria, or Corruption, has led to many Columnists being Fired or ‘Boycotted.’” he wrote.

     - “They (Corrupted Turkish Media actors) have acted Proactively, not waiting for memos from the State to Censor their Journalists,” said Aidan White, founder of the "Ethical Journalism Initiative" and former General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists", CPJ notes.

 Such Collision of Corrupted Media Agents with Ankara's Government against independent Journalists, was found mainly in TV Channels "CNN Turk" and "NTV", Newspaper "Sabah", etc, while denouncing also the fact that "over the last Decade the (Governing Party) AKP has built an Informal, powerful, coalition of party-Affiliated businessmen and Media outlets whose livelihoods Depend on the Political order (of Turkish Prime Mnister) Erdogan". Thus, f.ex., "CNN Turk was broadcasting a Food show, ... other major Turkish news channels were showing a Dance contest and ...study-Abroad programs" during the most Crucial Day of the Popular Protests recently, sometimes going as far as the infamous "extended CNN Turk broadcast of a documentary on Penguins despite the Massive Protests occurring on the Streets", at the same time that, on the contrary, "CNN International was showing live coverage of the protests in Turkey". Also "the lead article in Sabah, a ..pro-Government newspaper, was about Erdoğan's campaign against Smoking", while "Sabah's front page on 2 June did Not feature the Protests at all, but found space to cover "President Abdullah Gul being presented with a Horse during his official visit to Turkmenistan." (sic !)... Thus, "on 3 June, Thousands of ...People ....were gathered in front of Doğuş Media Center to protest coverage by Doğuş Holding's <<NTV>> ...while protesters chanted ... "We do Not want Media that is for Sale !"). To the point that "some NTV Staff Resigned in Protest", while even "the CEO of Doğuş Media Group, Cem Aydın, conceded that the Criticisms were "Fair to a large extent", and that "Our audience feels like they were Betrayed". Thus, "shortly after his comments, (he) Left Dogus Media (NTV+)", denounces even "Wikipedia" on this same point.

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+ ECHR data : Fast Growing Wave of new Serious Human Rights' Violations cases in Turkey ?!
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Despite some false appearances, the latest Statistical Data revealed by ECHR recently in Strasbourg (Comp. f.ex. : ....), reveal, in fact, that a new Wave of Serious Violations of Human Rights seems to be arriving fast from Turkey's cases                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
    Among many other Facts in this direction, ECHR observers can note, f.ex., at least the following indications  :

 - Ankara's Government faces the Greatest Number of Condamnations by ECHR's judgements during the latest Year 2013, together with Russia, (which, however, has an almost ...3 Times more numerous Population than Turkey : almost 150 Millions, instead of only 75) : 118 and 119.

+ More important : Turkey got the Biggest Numbers of Condemnations by ECHR in  2013 for Failing to Investigate even Violations of the Right to Life (i.e. Killings)  and in cases of Torture/Inhuman-Degrading Treatments, for Violating the Freedom of Expression, and for Discriminations, as well as for excessive Length of Judicial Proceedings (f.ex.  Criminal Prosecutions, etc).  

++ In addition, among those States which face a Sharply Growing Number of "Admissible" cases even recently, (f.ex. jumping from 7.527 to 9.011 between 2011 - 2013), Turkey is also the Only one which has a so Big Amount of Cases still "aWaiting 1st examination" at an ECHR's "Chamber or Committee", (i.e. most probably Admissible too) : 77%, or 8.453 cases.

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+++ Moreover, "Almost 1 Thousand of (pending) cases (on Turkey) are classified among the 3 Priority areas" of the ECHR, "so that this shows that, a priori, there are still many Serious cases of Human Rights' Violations, President Spielmann also denounced in this regard.

    => - Thus, replying to Journalists' question on Turkey, ECHR President Spielmann pointed out the fact that, "precisely, among the Problems that we (ECHR) have is to manage those Repetitive affairs (i.e. there where, despite a clear Condemnation, nevertheless, the responsible State persists to commit even more similar Violations of Human Rights, wihout fully implementing ECHR's judgements :

    As, f.ex. the Turkish Authorities notoriously do on ECHR's case-law about "Missing" Persons in Cyprus, according, precisely, to that kind of problems that President Spielman just evoked, in his Reply to "EuroFora"s Question, when he reminded the PanEuropean Court's attempts to "Help" recalcitrant States Stop "Repetitive" Violations of Human Rights, also by using the Tool of  the so-called "Pilot" cases, (Comp. : Supra .... ).

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2000-2014: = 14 Years of CPJ - ECHR Synergy since Adali murder case ?

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     Symbolically, Today's 2014 CPJ official anouncement including Turkey as No 1 Hotspot in the World against Media Freedom, is made ... 14  Years after a landmark, de facto cooperation between the Press Freedom Watchdog and ECHR in Strasbourg on the occasion of proceedings concerning the investigation on the Murder of a Journalist who was Brutaly Killed by Bullets shot at his Head on his way to his Family Home : Adali.

    Indeed, it's as early as since 2000 that "EuroFora"s co-Founder had discovered, while searching at ECHR's Archives, Worrying indications that undue Obstacles, Pressure and even Threats were reportedly opposed to the Victim's Wife, Daughter and others' efforts to find the Truth and punish those responsible for the 1996 cold-blood Murder of Dissident Turkish Cypriot Journalist Kutlu Adali in the Territories of Cyprus Occupied by Ankara's Foreign Invasion/Occupation Army, (a former Senior Civil Servant, obliged to lose his job and start practicing fearless investigative Journalism, because of the Turkish Occupation Regime's intolerance for his Critical Views, mainly against the Alteration of Cyprus' Demography by chassing more than 190.000 Greek Cypriot Refugees from their Family Homes and Ancestral land, and still Hindering them to Return, despite ECHR's judgements condemning Ankaras' Government for that, while, at the same time, provoking a Massive Influx of Settlers from mainland Turkey inside the Northern Territories of Cyprus still under Foreign Military Occupation, to the point that both CoE's Parliamentary Assembly, already during the 1990ies and again on 2003, as well as its Committee of Ministers, had repeatedly Warned, not only against the obvious Violations of Human Rights that such an illegal practice imply - which, according to the International Penal Court's statute, is even tantamount to a "War Crime"- but also agsinst the "Political Obstacles" to a Peaceful Solution to the Cyprus' problem for the ReUnification of the Island, that would inevitably result considering also the illegal Occupation regime's trend to Systematically but illegaly distribute so-called "Passports" and "Citizenship" to numerous Foreign Settlers imported from Turkey into Cyprus' occupied and "Ethnic-Cleansed" Territories, threatening to Block ReUnification and definitively Impose an illegal Partition of the Island, officialy outlawed by many UNO's SC. pertinent Resolutions).

    After avoiding a Harassment on the spot by several Foreign and mean-looking Individuals, never seen before, who had suddenly popped up around "EuroFora" co-Founder's Family Home (where a Violent Collective Aggression had already taken place back on 1998, during the Russian S330 Missiles' Cyprus crisis), apparently thanks also to certain French competent services, we took the initiative to Phone to the CPJ's competent Director for EurAsia, at the New York Headquarters of the Global watchdog for Press Freedom, inforing them about the obvious stagnation of the ECHR proceedings, 4 Years after the Killing and the Complaint lodged by the Victim's Family in STrasbourg, their Protests and demands for Help, etc. Soon afterwards, it seems that a combination of a relevant Article that we Published initialy on August 2000 at our 15 years Newspaper "The Cyprus Weekly" in English, revealing what was going on behind Closed Doors until then, and CPJ's competent Senior Officer's declared intention to get in touch with the ECHR's services in Strasbourg (in order to ensure that its proceedings won't be more Delayed or Stopped after the Victim's Family's protests for variousreported  attempst to Intimidate them in order to Drop the case), which helped to unblock the file, so that ECHR anounced next year for the 1st time a Public Hearing, (which took place finally on January 2003), leading to a Strong Condemnation of Ankara's Government's Responsibility for a blatant Failure to make any Efficient Investigation, according to ECHR's well established case-law, "in order to find and punish those Responsible for the Killing" of the Journalist, not even almost a Decade after the Murder (1996-2005), according to a landmark ECHR's Judgement, published on 2005, i.e., by a coincidence, .. on the Same Year of ECHR's Judgement also on anOther World-Famous case of Journalist's Brutal Murder : that of Gongadze in Ukraine, (published also on 2005) !..

    However, afterwards, contrary to what has happened in Ukraine until 2013, where more than 3 Suspects have already been condemned since long, and a more important, 4rth one, recently, (a Senior Official with the grade of General : the former Chief of the Interior Ministry's surveillance Department), while the Ukranian Government had even accepted to involve Foreign (USA) Experts in the Investigation, as it was attested by the COE in Strasbourg where the CoE's Committee of Ministers still continues to Monitor the issue, remaining yet just to find who might have Ordered the cold-blood Murder of the Anti-Corruption Internet Journalist Gongadze, however, a totaly Differend path was followed by Turkey on the Adali Written Press' dissident Journalist's Murder in the Occupied Territories of Cyprus :

    While ... Noone was ever found yet, (not even one, not even the slightest suspect !) among those Responsible for the cold-blood Murder of the Journalist, with Bullets shot at his Head and chest, after Ambush in front of his Family Home, not even 15 Years since the Killing, nevertheless, the File which was pending for the Execution of ECHR's Judgement by Turkey, was ... droped and classified inside CoE's Committee of Ministers, reportedly even without any Debate, via an "Implicit" procedure and almost hidden among a Mass of much more lenient, ordinary cases), suddenly on June 2010, i.e. (by an Astonishing "Coincidence") precisely when the Turkish Government was taking over CoE's Rotating Chairmanship on Human Rights issues, (according to a Tradition : 6 Months before Ankara took over, from November 2010 to May 2011, also the overall, Political rotating Chair of the CoE) ! Thus, in blatant Contradiction with ECHR's established Case-Law, which notoriously obliges any State condemned in a Journalist's a.o. Murder case at least to make "Efficient Investigations" in order "to find and punish all those Responsible for the Killing", and even with PanEuropean CoE's own Statute, which cleary entrusts to its Committee of Ministers the Task to "Supervise the Execution of ECHR's Judgements", exceptionaly, in the case of Dissident T/C Journalist Adali's brutal Murder, Turkey apparently escaped, scandalously, without any Sanction whatever, not even a Verbal one (!), from its Duty to implement ECHR's crystal-clear Judgement of 2005...

    => Now that CPJ's Annual Report published Today by its New York Headquarters, at the same time that the Global Press Freedom Watchdog strongly Warns against manifold present Risks from any "Impunity" for the Killing of Journalists Worldwide, in parallel with the on-going Austrian Chairmanship of CoE's Committee of Ministers here in Strasbourg (November 2013 - May 2014), which has notoriously placed the "Safety of Journalists and Media Freedom" at the Top of its Priorities (comp. also Austrian vice-Chancellor Spindelegger's declarations +in reply to "EuroFora"s Questions, f.ex. at : http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/spindeleggeronmediafreedomandinternet.html ), will, at last, a new Synegy between CPJ and ECHR issues succceed to, at last, dare face and adequately settle such Scandalous Contradictions in the PanEuropean mechanism for the Supervision of the Implementation of ECHR's Judgements by the respôndent States, with the obvious Risk, otherwise, to loose any Credibility in such a sensitive area as that of Journalists' Murdetrs, (as it is revealed by the Total Difference, until now, between the Adali and Gongadze cases, which both concern cold-blooc Killings of Media Workers, condemned in very Similar Terms by ECHR's Judgements both Published the Same Year : 2005 (Comp. Supra) ?     

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(On this issue, Comp., also, f.ex. :  http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/coehonorsjournalistsriskingtruthwhileadalimurderrevelationpointsatmissingpeople.html http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/coepressfreedominturkey.html
http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/ukraineturkeygongadzeadali.html
http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/adalimurderinvestigationstopedwhenturkeychairscoe.html
http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/irish/costa.html

http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/irish/sakharov.html )