The IAPA made nearly 20 trips this past year to different countries of the Americas in defense of freedom of the press. We returned with good news and bad news. The most worrisome cases demanded extraordinary and constant effort: Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela and Peru stand out prominently on our list.
Despite several
meetings we had with President Andrés Pastrana and his closest
advisors, Colombia remains a country in which the life of a journalist
seems to have zero value.
More than five journalists were murdered there during the past year
(1998-99) merely for doing their jobs. In Bogotá this past
May, the president and the attorney general promised us enhanced
security for our Colombian colleagues; Pastrana repeated that pledge
at our general assembly in Houston. But reality seems to contradict
his words and his actions.
We foresee intensifying our campaign in 2000 to achieve greater security for Colombias press as it enters a foreseeable period of intensified violence due to the deepening civil conflict there. Meanwhile, our solidarity with the Colombian colleagues remains steadfast.
By ratifying concepts in its new constitution that harm press freedom, Venezuela, unfortunately, has regressed to previous dark periods that, we assumed, had been overcome. Despite a constructive dialogue in November between a high-level IAPA delegation and top Venezuelan officials, the constituent assembly approved articles denominated "the right to truthful information" and the "right of reply." Both concepts represent a threat to the unfettered exercise of an individuals fundamental rights.
The position of the IAPA and of broad sectors of public opinion in Venezuela and elsewhere in the Americas is that to presume to qualify news becomes a double-edged sword that may be used against journalism. How to define "truthful" may be very arbitrary. We will remain alert and follow closely the press situation in Venezuela, watchful in the event a constitutional threat turns into a reality.
Cuba has given cause for constant alarm: this is a country where freedom of the press is fiction. A handful of independent journalists, who do not follow the official line, has managed to maintain a semblance of news freedom in Cuba, but at a high price. Aggressions, threats and jailings have become a daily occurrence for these colleagues.
We have backed them in every possible way, most recently by asking heads of state who planned to attend the Ibero-American Summit to intercede on their behalf. We would like to think that our campaign has begun to show some modest results. For example, our colleagues received some official support from some of the visiting dignitaries, including José María Azner, head of the Spanish government.
We are also
hopeful that the appeal made by President Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico
and others, as well as the summits final declaration, urging respect
for institutions and democratic liberties, will lay the basis to
begin building true press freedom in Cuba.
At the same time we wish to make clear that we will not lower our
guard. Our plans to visit Cuba and back its journalists are more
firm than ever.
We are worried as well by the situation in Peru. Attacks on the opposition press have become a routine matter. Journalists receive death threats, flee the country into exile, live in fear while their reputations are tarnished. All this because of the actions of parties who possess powerful technical tools and money, which leaves no doubt in the minds of some that behind it are the intelligence services. We will do everything in our power to alleviate and maybe even reverse this situation, including traveling again to Peru for direct discussions with the highest authorities.
We have progressed as well in other areas, although in matters of press freedom a step forward sometimes happens in response to a cry for help. More than 200 press people have been murdered in this decade. Almost none of the murderers has been punished.
But we have created a journalistic network to help capture the culprits. A wide network of investigative reporters will be in place and operating next year. Their mission will be to help investigate the murders of colleagues, whose cases mostly gather dust in government offices or have been discarded through negligence or official corruption.
In parallel fashion we have persisted in our efforts to log the fatal attacks against journalists. This task has crystallized with the publication of "Impunity No More," a book that records the most recent cases investigated by the IAPA. The book focuses on journalists Jairo Márquez and Gerardo Bedoya, of Colombia, and Zaqueu de Oliveira and Aristeu Guida da Silva, of Brazil, killed in 1997 and 1995 respectively.
The detailed probe of these cases, which are emblematic because they reflect all the evils that burden the practice of journalism, was presented to the Inter American Human Rights Commission of the OAS, which will pursue its own investigation to determine fault.
As a result of this effort to denounce and disseminate, the Zaqueu de Oliveira case reached a provincial court in Brazil. The man charged with the murder was prosecuted in November, but declared not guilty for reasons of "legitimate defense." This has created an important precedent because it is the first time a trial of this nature is heard.
Another important contribution to the press freedom cause took place during this period with the publication of a book that compiles all of the press laws of the hemisphere. It is the first and only compilation of its kind and will serve as a useful reference for researchers. The Chapultepec Project also received a boost from the signing of the declaration by Jamil Mahuad, president of Ecuador.
As already noted, we start the millennium full of plans and ideas that promise better times for press freedom. We will collect our reward on the day those plans lessen or disappear. That will mean we have ended our search for press freedom because we have found it.
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