In the aftermath of the conviction of three members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, the topic of freedom of expression is definitely back on the European agenda. All around the world protests have been held in order to condemn what was viewed as a violation of the fundamental right to freedom of speech. “The Pussy Riot case was a move designed to scare other critics into silence,” said Rachel Denber from Human Rights Watch, who has been observing the human rights situation in Russia for over twenty years[1]. How frightening this remark may be, it is even more frightening to realise that the enormous amount of international criticism raised by the Pussy Riot case was very exceptional. Usually, the violation of the right to freedom of speech is marked by one important feature: silence.
According to article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, “everyone has the right to freedom of expression and to receive and impart information.”[2] This convention, which entered into force in 1953, was adopted by all Council of Europe member states. These include nearly all European countries, with the exception of Belarus and Vatican City. Even though next year we will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Convention, the fundamental rights it aims to protect are far from guaranteed.
Over the last years, according to Amnesty International the right to freedom of expression has been violated in countries such as Azerbaijan, Hungary, Georgia, Poland, Turkey, Montenegro, the Republic of Macedonia and Russia. The violations range from arrestments of opposition leaders to intimidation of journalists and NGOs and new restrictions on the right to freedom of assembly.
In Azerbaijan, two journalists from an opposition newspaper were intimated and physically assaulted. In Hungary, new media laws have sparked debates concerning freedom of press all over Europe. In Montenegro, a human rights association was denied access to information about unresolved political killings, even though the access had been granted by the Administrative Court. Nevertheless, it is the situation in Belarus which raises most concerns among human rights activists. According to Human Rights Watch, Belarusian authorities, led by Alexander Lukashenko, keep attempting to curtail the right to freedom of expression. This repression concerns NGOs as well as individual activists and journalists, who have been respectively shut down or expelled from the country. There have also been travel bans for certain human rights defenders and journalists, who are not allowed to leave their country, although the government has never given a legitimate reason for this ban.
If the long list of human rights violations might teach us one important thing, it is that we need to stay vigilant and conscious of our rights. Many challenges remain for all European countries, for the relatively new members who are party to the European Convention on Human Rights as well as for its founders. Freedom of expression is not a privilege but a fundamental right, one of the foundations of a pluralistic and liberal society, and this should never be taken for granted.
Written by the Human Rights Working Group