WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2015
May 3- Round Table “Freedom of Expression is a Human Right”
Globe International Center, a Mongolian NGO is holding a Round table “Freedom of Expression is a Human Right” on the occasion of the May 3- World Press Freedom Day (WPFD). The event is scheduled on May 3, 2015 in the conference hall of the Open Society, Mongolia at 2 pm.
We are welcoming the media and journalists, government representatives, lawyers, local human rights NGOs, foreign missions in Ulaanbaatar and the delegates coming to the fifth Freedom Online Conference in Ulaanbaatar to join us on May 3, 2015.
Freedoms of opinion and expression for Mongolian citizens is getting alarming due to current political, legal and regulatory conditions, particularly since the Government has taken steps towards restricting digital freedoms and public officials have increased their pace in filing criminal defamation cases.
WPFD is as emerged as an effective way to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of expression and press freedom. This year’s WPFD is specific for Mongolia to raise the pressing issues and advocate for securing a free and open Internet in connection with the fifth Freedom Online Conference taking place on May 4-5, 2015 in Ulaanbaatar, the capital. The focus will be again highlighted in the lead up to its review under the Universal Periodic Review scheduled on 4 - 15 May 2015 to discuss the human rights situation of Mongolia. A separate UPR submission of Globe International Center on behalf of the Mongolian Human Right Forum is available at:
http://upr-mongolia.mn/images/xupld/10_JSTMP5_UPR22_MNG_E_Main.pdf
Taking this opportunity we are keen to highlight the post 2015 agenda in line with freedoms of expression and information.
Mongolia has guaranteed its citizens’ freedoms of opinion and expression, the right to publish and the right to information, according to Articles 16.16 and 16.17 of the Constitution of Mongolia, chartered in 1992 and other media laws. Mongolia is a signatory to the Universal Human Rights Declaration and became party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 1974.
The government of Mongolia has initiated a draft new law on Media Freedom and a draft of the Broadcast law which is missed until now. Mongolia does not have legal protections for journalists’ confidential sources or for whistleblowers.
The three subthemes of the Mongolia’s 2015 WPFD are:
1) Online freedom and Right to Anonymity
Our concerns in this area are official registration of news and information websites by the government-controlled regulatory body the Communications Regulatory Committee (CRC), filtering is used for blocking over 100 words in Cyrillic and Latin through www.happywebs.mn and Users’ IP address disclosure which is a duty of the Internet intermediaries.
Since 2012, a total of 172 websites have been blocked in Mongolia due to copy rights violations. The CRC publicizes the list of blocked websites are at www.black-list.mn. Unfortunately, not all of the cases are related to the copyright violations.
2) Decriminalization defamation
Reputations are protected by the civil and criminal laws and it is also subject to the election laws. Mongolia’s Criminal Law includes insult (Article 110) and libel (Article 111) as criminal offences and stated sanctions provide for fines, arrest and detainment for a period of up to six months or imprisonment from two to five years.
Number of the criminal defamation cases has been rapidly increasing. Journalists who faced 8 criminal cases approached Globe International Center between May 2014 and March 20, 2015. Only in 2014, the Mongolian courts heard 9 criminal cases of two of which were launched against social media users (Twitter), comparing to 12 in total for two years in 2012-2013. The majority of the plaintiffs are elected politicians and authorities.
The 2014 draft law on the Crime repealed the criminal defamation, but after the change of the government it is revoked in the current new draft of the Ministry of Justice.
3) Censorship
All types of censorship are banned by the 1998 Law on Media Freedom, but in the reality the situation is different. The editorial censorship is extremely high in Mongolia and the journalists are highly self-censored. Censorship is encouraged by the existing laws, government and private advertisements, hidden behind - the eyes media ownership and ongoing process of media concentration.
Globe International Center has been promoting freedoms of expression and information since its establishment in 1999. It’s a member of the IFEX, GFMD and the Forum Asia.
Contact persons:
T.Ayushjav, Media Program Coordinator, globemon@gmail.com,
Kh.Naranjargal, President and CEO, hnaran@globeinter.org.mn
Address:
Globe International Center
Chingeltei duureg. Khoroo No 4,
Diplomat 95 Complex,
Entrance No 3, # 32
Ulaanbaatar - 15141, Mongolia
Mailing address: Post Office — 38, P.O.B - 102,
Tel/fax: 976 11 32 4627,
Tel: 976 11 32 4764
E-mail: globenews@globeinter.org.mn