Country/Topic: Mongolia
Date: 11 July 2006
Source: Globe International
Person(s): B. Tsevegmid
Target(s): journalist(s)
Type(s) of violation(s): assaulted , death threat
Urgency: Flash
(Globe International/IFEX) - On 6 July 2006, B. Tsevegmid, the editor of Nomin television station, northern Mongolian province of Orkhon, was beaten at the entrance of her building and had to be hospitalized for treatment. Before being attacked she had received many threats by telephone concerning an investigative television program, "Forbidden to watch," which covered the Erdenet mining industry employees privatization vouchers.
On 11 June, "Forbidden to watch" aired on the fate of privatization vouchers for 9,000 employees of the Erdenet mining industry. After the television program, unknown people threatened her over the phone. The director of the Erdenest brokerage company, which held the vouchers, also warned the journalist, "It is a very complicated issue, you could be killed."
On 8 July, local journalist A. Naranbold, who is actively working for the rights of his colleague, contacted his coworker by phone during her recovery. Tsevegmid told him, "The entrance was dark and I couldnt recognize who the attackers were, nor how many people were there."
Local police are investigating the incident.
During 1990, when the country shifted from a state economy into a free market economy, state property privatization vouchers were given to every citizen of Mongolia. The employees of Erdenet mining industry expected the privatization of the industry. In turn they took what they thought to be an advantage of privatization and placed their privatization vouchers in the "Erdenest" brokerage company. But during this time the Government issued a resolution to expel the Erdenet industry from the list of state enterprises that were going to be privatized. According to the TV program the industry employees still have not gotten any profits from the vouchers and even do not know whether the brokerage company is still saving them or has sold them all off. The TV journalist tried to clarify if the brokerage company sold the vouchers without the consent of the owners which would violate the rights of employees. Erdenet produces almost 20 million tons of ore per year and 51 percent of the company is owned by Russia. The remaining property continues to be owned by the state.
Globe International issued a media release on the incident and informed the Mongolian Journalists Association. The local branch of the Mongolian Confederation Journalist’s Association /MCJA/ also issued a press release on the incident and urged the head of MCJA to pay more attention to protecting the rights of journalists and supporting them. They stressed that, "several member journalists of MCJA have been attacked while exercising their professional duties and for revealing unlawful activities in our society."