Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (Deutsche Welle/K. Danetzki)

A conference on media freedom has condemned attacks on journalists and called on the governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to guarantee the independence of public service broadcasters.

More than 80 journalists, officials, members of parliament, civil society representatives, government officials and academics took part in the 10th South Caucasus Media Conference, which took place in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi from 11 to 12 November and was organised by the Office of the OSCE's Representative on Freedom of the Media.

An 11-point declaration endorsed by the participants included a condemnation of "attacks, harassment and intimidation against journalists" and an appeal for swift and effective investigations to prevent a climate of fear and impunity.

It also stressed "the responsibility of the authorities to create a legal and regulatory environment that will guarantee political, editorial and financial independence of public service broadcasters".

This conference speakers and participants reviewed and evaluated major developments in the three countries over the past 10 years and discussed prospects for the media in the region.

Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, said some progress had been made over the past decade but that "the old challenges to media freedom remain and we see new ones emerge”. She mentioned problems such as threats to safety of journalists, lack of pluralism, deficiency of regulators’ independence, and undermining of the integrity of public service broadcasters.

Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Their national broadcasters joined the EBU in the mid-2000s after the Union extended eligibility to all countries in the Council of Europe.

Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) has been a major recipient of strategic and other assistance through the EBU Partnership Progamme. However, GPB has suffered over the past year from politically-based conflicts between its Board of Trustees and management. Director General Gyorgy Baratashvili was sacked early in the year, reinstated by an employment tribunal, and is appealing against a second dismissal. After several resignations and the expiry of some mandates, the Board of Trustees is currently unable to function pending new legislation.