The informal OSCE Group of Friends on Safety of Journalists strongly condemned and urgently called on Russia to immediately end their attacks on independent media
On 7 April 2022 in Vienna, at the Permanent Council of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) the informal OSCE Group of Friends on Safety of Journalists, composed of 16 participating States, including Lithuania, strongly condemned all attacks on journalists and media workers covering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a delivered Joint Statement the informal Group of Friends higlighted the critical importance of the work of free, independent and professional journalists and media actors in providing objective information during war. Russia, however, reportedly are targeting journalists aiming to stop them from providing fact-based coverage of the war and from shining a light on the human suffering caused by Russia's military aggression against Ukraine.
At least six journalists have been killed since 24 February while covering the atrocities brought to the Ukraine by the Russian military. And these tragic numbers unfortunatelly keep growing. Only recently international community learnt of the death of well-known photojournalist Maksim Levin and of a killing of a Lithuanian documentary filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius. There are also the growing number of reports on cases of disappearance and abduction of Ukrainian journalists and hostage taking of their relatives.
The members of the Group of Friends urgently call on Russia to immediately end their attacks on independent media and to respect the rights of journalists and media workers in accordance with international human rights law, international humanitarian law and OSCE commitments.
The statement delivered on behalf of the informal OSCE Group of Friends on Safety of Journalists can be read here.
