 • Human Rights Defenders in the OSCE Region 10. Falsification of evidence. Another tactic sometimes used against human rights defenders is the falsification of evidence to incriminate them. One defender was arrested and charged with firearms offences after a grenade had allegedly been planted in his car by security services.52 Freedom of the Media and Human Rights Defenders The following contribution was received from the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. Freedom of expression and freedom of the media are fundamental human rights. By fulfilling their duty to report independently, media are instrumental in creating the public space needed for voicing the concerns of human rights defenders. In addition, media report on the human rights situation generally and often independently from government interpretations. As such, and whereas in their general role journalists are not human rights defenders, many do act as defenders, for example when they report on human rights abuses and bear witness to acts that they have seen. There are a number of OSCE media-freedom commitments, starting with the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, that are binding for participating States irrespective of their culture or recent history.53 The acknowledgement by OSCE participating States of the importance of freedom of the media as a cornerstone of democratic societies resulted in the establishment of the Office of the Representative on Freedom of the Media at the 1997 Ministerial Council. In the past 10 years, the Representative has observed relevant media developments in all participating States. He has intervened on a broad range of violations of OSCE media-freedom commitments and has regularly assisted participating States in furthering free, independent, and pluralistic media. 52 Case of Osman Bolyev (Russian Federation), FIDH/OMCT, op. cit., note 19, p. 533. 53 For a list of media-related commitments, see Freedom of Expression, Free Flow of Information, Freedom of Media (Vienna: OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, 2001), <http://www.osce. org/fom/item_11_13578.html>.