Ukraine Establishes a Watchdog on Journalists' Rights Protection

KYIV, Ukraine, July 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

In response to the increasing interest of international community on the status of Ukrainian press freedom, the government established the Working Group on Journalists' Rights Protection. The Group's mission is to analyze cases of violations of the freedom of speech legislation in a timely manner and make suggestions to the President on how to resolve the problems.

The Group (Interoffice Working Group on Analysis of the Observation of the Freedom of Speech and Journalists' Rights Protection Legislation) consists of 11 members, who represent professionals in media and public sectors - Ukrainian journalists (including Reporters Without Borders), General Prosecutor's Office, Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the President's Administration.

The creation of the group was initiated by the President of Ukraine Victor Yanukovych in order to monitor and report on the government-media relations and to find viable solutions to the issues that the journalists are facing while performing their job in Ukraine.

The first meeting of the Group took place on July 7. Following the meeting the Group chair Daria Chepak, who is also the press secretary to the President of Ukraine, said: "The Group will work transparently. Its work will be another step in the Open Conversation Program that aims at holding an honest and open discussion of the problems that the journalists are facing while doing their job in Ukraine."

The Open Conversation Program, according to Daria Chepak, is a new government program meant to improve communication between the state bodies and the journalists.

Earlier this year the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych signed the Law on Access to Public Information, adopted by the Ukrainian parliament in January 2011.

The Law guarantees access to public information with regards to human rights and press freedom. The law identifies what data is confidential and provides that all information produced by the public bodies, excluding the confidential data, should be released to citizens within 5 to 30 days. The Law also regulates the issue of protection of journalists.

Following the introduction of the law, journalists from nation-wide and regional publications have already written a number of articles based on the newly released information related to public funds expenditures, public property use, as well as revenues and priviliges of the key public servants.