Statement Of Journalists Following Database Leak With Personal Information Of War Reporters In Ukraine
We, journalists of Ukrainian and foreign media, and representatives of Ukrainian and international media organizations are deeply shocked by the actions of Ukrainian politicians and “Peacemaker” website staff, who publicly made available the personal data of all journalists, who were granted accreditation in the self-proclaimed “”DNR/LNR”, naming them as people “who cooperate with terrorists”.
The ones who were affected are the Ukrainian and foreign journalists, who were risking their lives while objectively covering the events and reporting for Ukrainian and world media on what was happening in the occupied territories.
In particular, thanks to their work, it became clear who was a part of the “Vostok” battalion, about Motorola and other militants’ crimes, about Russian weapons supplies and lots of other issues.
It was these journalists who provided the information for holding a quality investigation of the Malaysian Boeing crash in the summer of 2014. Their material about leading figures of occupied territories formed the basis of many investigations and analytic material.
We especially emphasize that accreditation does not mean and has never meant the cooperation of journalists with any of the conflict sides. Accreditation is a form of protection and security for journalists.
We remind that according to Ukrainian and international media-organizations, in 2014 alone, 80 Ukrainian and foreign journalists were captured, many of them were tortured. The accreditation was minimal but was the only mechanism of protection from torture and captivity.
After the accusation of “working for terrorists” and the publishing of their personal data, phone numbers and emails, journalists started receiving threatening calls and messages. Some Ukrainian politicians have already considered these journalists as “Enemies of Ukraine” and forbid them to work.
Such attitude towards journalists is a direct violation of the Constitution of Ukraine, the law “About Personal Data Protection” and the European Convention on Human Rights. It is dishonorable and unacceptable in a civilized and non-totalitarian state like Ukraine.
We demand the “Peacemaker” website to immediately remove the information about related journalists’ personal data from the public’s access.
We appeal to Ukrainian politicians, members of Parliament with a demand to stop the manipulation with this information.
We also appeal to Ukrainian authorities, law enforcement authorities with a demand to institute criminal proceedings on the violation of the law of Ukraine about personal data protection, putting pressure and threatening the journalists mentioned in a list.
Oksana Romanyuk, Reporters Without Borders
Sevgil Musayeva, Ukrayinska Pravda
Andrii Kulykov, Hromadske Radio
Kateryna Sergatskova, Hromadske.tv
Nataliya Gumenyuk, Hromadske.tv
Anastasiya Stanko, Hromadske.tv
Angelina Kariakina, Hromadske.tv
Alla Koshlyak, Hromadske.tv
Iryna Slavinska, Hromadske Radio
Ihor Burdyga, freelance journalist
Pavel Kazarin, Radio Liberty
Ksenia Turkova, Radio Vesti
Otar Dovzhenko, UKU School of Journalism
Alisa Sopova, The New York Times (Ukraine)
Pavel Kanygin, Novaya Gazeta
Anna Nemtsova, The Daily Beast, Foreign Policy, Politico
Simon Ostrovskiy, Vice News
Gulliver Gragg, France 24
Cristopher Miller, former Mashable
Stephane Siohan, freelance-journalist
Pawel Pieniążek, freelance-journalist
Piotr Andrusieczko, Gazeta Wyborcza, Nowa Europa Wschodnia
Anton Elashchuk, freelance journalist
Anastasiya Magazova, Deutsche Welle
Noah Sneider, The Economist
Serhiy Mokrushyn, Hromadske.tv
Vataliy Atanasov, documentary
Max Avdeev, photographer
Roman Stepanovych, Veronika Sylchenko, freelance journalists
Brian Bonner, Kyiv Post
Olga Rudenko, Kyiv Post
Alyona Zhuk, Kyiv Post
Maxim Eristavi, Hromadske.tv
Viktoria Sumar
Tetiana Kozak, freelance journalist
Alexandr Sybirtsev, strana.ua
Yuliya Poluhina, Novaya Gazeta
