<nettime> Media Law Passed in Kosovo / Dita..

["Geneva J. Anderson" <geneva@iscweb.com>]

This article recently appeared in Central Europe Review
(http://www.ce-review.org ).  I also attach a subsequent link
to OSCE Kosovo mission news (28 June, 2000) on the
law's subsequent implementation as regards Dita.
Geneva Anderson

Media Law Passed by Kosovo Administration (Lazar Semini)

On 16 June, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
(UNMIK) signed into law an act that will regulate the province's media.

The OSCE prepared the law following the murder of Petar Topoljski, a UN
worker of Serb ethnicity. Two weeks prior to his murder, the Albanian
daily Dita published an article alleging Topoljski was a member of a
Serb paramilitary unit.

Two regulations which fundamentally affect Kosovo's media have been
signed by the Special Representative of the Secretary General, Dr
Bernard Kouchner. One provision deals with licensing the broadcast
media, while the second regulates the conduct of the print media.

"This, and the temporary code of conduct developed for print media, will
do much to shape the development of Kosovo's media,"said Douglas
Davidson, Director of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo's media affairs
department.

Under the provisions, a Temporary Media Commissioner (TMC) will
establish the criteria and the procedures for issuing broadcast
licenses.  The TM will be in the post until an Interim Media Commission,
consisting of a majority of Kosovar members, is established.

In applying for and receiving a license, broadcasters agree to abide by
a Broadcast Code of Conduct which will set standards for Kosovo's
television and radio.  Provisions for the conduct of the print media are
specific measures aimed to deal with the unique situation in Kosovo, and
will serve as temporary measures until effective self-regulation takes
root in the print sector.  The TMC will issue a temporary code of
conduct demanding that Kosovo's journalists behave responsibly and act
in a way consistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
the European Convention on Human Rights.

In both sets of regulations, media are barred from publishing
identifying details that would pose a threat to a person's life.

Violators who breach the terms and conditions of the codes of conduct
could face sanctions which range in severity from the forced retraction
of the offending material, to fines of up to DEM 100,000 [USD 48,000]
and, ultimately, to the closing down of the violator's operation. 

(This article originally appeared in Central Europe Review 
(http://www.ce-review.org. )

*re Implementation....see 28 June article on Dita

in ---http://www.osce.org/press_rel/2000/06/854-mik.html

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