The ‘Pearl’ Act and the Indonesian press freedom

At an unusual ceremony at the Oval Office last Monday, May 17, President Barack Obama signed in the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act, legislation aimed at promoting freedom of the press around the globe.
It was good news particularly for journalists. Given the increasing risks faced by journalists while performing their duties, such legislation gives hope for safer circumstances and protection for  newspeople.

Only in November last year, the world — particularly the media people — was shocked when they heard the news that 32 journalists and media staff were brutally massacred in a remote place in Mindanao, southern Philippines. They were among 57 victims of political rivalry in the restive province.
In its End of A Deadly Decade report, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) describes the atrocity as “the worst single act of political violence against journalists in 20 years”. It is worth to note that the massacre is a reminder that journalism is among the most dangerous professions. According to the IFJ record, 139 journalists were killed across the globe in 2009.
The Freedom of the Press Act, which President Obama signed, was named in honor of Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002. The signing-in ceremony was special as President Obama was accompanied by the parents, siblings, widow and son of Daniel Pearl.
Daniel was in Pakistan doing investigative reporting on the financial network of the Taliban, four months after the Sept. 11 attacks, when the murder took place.
Apparently, his horrific death opened the eyes of the US Senate to the challenges and abuses many journalists often face while performing their job. Daniel was not the only victim. There are journalists in other parts of the world who risk their life to fulfill society’s ideals of democracy, transparency or justice.
Very often, death threats, terror and intimidation against journalists come from authorities, security forces or even a powerful individual. That is why a joint effort is needed among countries to fight terror against journalists which are rampant particularly in places where authoritarian rules.
It is on this benign reason that the US administration produced such legislation. “We hope this legislation will help the US work with other nations to better protect [Daniel’s] colleagues serving on the frontlines in the fight for greater accountability and transparency,” said Congressman Adam Schiff, an initiator of this act.
“Freedom of expression cannot exist where journalists are not safe from persecution and attack. Our government must promote freedom of the press by putting on center stage those countries in which journalists are killed, imprisoned, kidnapped, threatened, or censored,” Schiff added.
It was said that the legislation will monitor any government that tries to silence media opposition. It mandates the secretary of state to assess the status of freedom of the press in countries worldwide and put it on the department’s annual country report on human rights practice.
In addition, this act requires the State Department to identify countries in which there were violations of press freedom. It also mandates the State Department to determine whether the authorities in those countries participate in, facilitate or condone the violations.
Also, the department will have to report the actions any government have taken to preserve the independence of the media as well as ensure the prosecution of individuals who attack or murder newspeople.
With such a wide outreach, the legislation surely has high relevance to the life of journalists in other parts of the world including those in Indonesia, who still sees violence against this profession. There were cases of violence against journalists in this country. The murder of Balinese journalist Agung Gede Narendra Prabangsa of local newspaper Radar Bali on Feb. 16, 2009 is one example. An investigation into the case had led to seven suspects, all connected to alleged graft on which Agung was reporting.
The murder of journalist is not the only “target” of this Act as it will generally monitor all kinds of violations of press freedom including efforts to silence criticism. In Indonesia, the threat against freedom of the press has taken shape in the form of criminalizing the journalists. Instead of using mediation or making written clarification, powerful individuals tend to bring the media to court anytime they find libelous story implicating them.
The latest case was the prosecution against eight media (print, television and online) by Raymon Teddy who was described in the news as “a gambling kingpin”. He demanded between US$10 million and $30 million in compensation for the defamatory report.
The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and other media unions have noted that there is an increasing trend in the use of criminal charges against the media. The criminal charges and the potential financial losses for the compensation have become chilling effects. Thus, it becomes a new method to silence the press. In term of press freedom, Indonesia ranks in 113th position of 195 countries.
The signing of the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act by President Obama gives hope to journalists across the globe for a better working environment and better press freedom. If pressure from the public does not work, we can only hope for changes from a joint pressure of the international community.


The writer is staff writer at The Jakarta Post.
opini the jakarta post 26 mei 2010