Tabloids
violate the first binding international instrument for the protection of
the rights of the child
Press release
Belgrade, June 19, 2009
Strongly protesting against impermissible and illegal
features articles run by the Kurir tabloid - this time targeting a
public figure and, more importantly, her underage son - the Helsinki
Committee for Human Rights in Serbia reminds the public and all relevant
authorities of the duty the country has taken upon itself by signing the
first binding international convention in the domain of protection of
human rights - the Convention on the Rights of the Child ratified by all
member-states of the United Nations.
This is neither the first nor an isolated case whereby
Serbia's media - including the so-called serious ones - refer to
children in the manner that is explicitly prohibited not only by this
most authoritative document in the area of the rights of the child by
also by domestic legislation. The more so is the impermissible coverage
of one specific case - Kurir would not give up despite ongoing public
protests - an opportunity to warn the signatory-state and its
authorities of their duty, deriving from Article 4, to take all
available legislative, administrative and other measures to protect
children from arbitrary and illegal interference in their privacy and
attacks against their honor and reputation, and that every child has the
right to such protection (Article 16). Those measures are crucial for
Serbia's media sphere and the state's duty to make sure that journalists
respect professional code that protects children.
The Helsinki Committee welcomes strong public protests
the "Kurir case" has provoked in Serbia and joins the civil sector's
clear-cut demand for putting an end to such practice. This case may also
provide an opportunity for drawing attention to other victims of media
calumniation and defamation, grounded on fabrications and tendentiously
presented information, but also to the responsibility for public
discourse in the society constantly invoking its "traditional" morality.
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