IAPA warns of culture of self-censorship stemming from violence and wave of lawsuits against journalists and news media

IAPA President Danilo Arbilla said that this self-censorship resulting from violence was evident in rural areas of countries where journalists were least protected, such as Colombia, Mexico and Brazil, and feared reprisals for writing about corruption or drug trafficking.

The chairman of the IAPAs Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Rafael Molina, said that during a recent visit to Costa Rica journalists and media representatives told IAPA delegates that they often failed to publish matters of public interest out of fear that they would be "punished with high damages awards and fines" and other legal action, such imposition of a right of reply.

"The climate of fear that they seek to create among journalists has an even more serious consequence, in that it deprives citizens their right to be informed - a cornerstone of the democratic process," the IAPA Executive Committee declared.

On the legal front, the IAPA reiterated its protest at a ruling by the Supreme Court of Venezuela pronouncing on the concept of "truthful information," the responsibility of the media for the views they express and on their hiring practices, stating among other things that "it is an offense against truthful and impartial information to have a majority of columnists of one single ideological viewpoint."

The hemisphere free-press organization also protested setbacks to freedom of the press in countries such as Chile, Paraguay and Nicaragua with passage of laws curtailing press activities.

In Chile, rather than eliminating restrictions on the press, new legislation titled "Law on Freedom of Opinion and of Information and the Practice of Journalism" in fact set up a new regulatory system. In Paraguay, two laws went into effect - "Administrative Transparency" and "Regulating Information of a Private Nature" - that created "protective shields" for public officials by banning reporting on their actions and assets. In Nicaragua, a "Law Establishing the Journalists Colegio" for the obligatory licensing of journalists was enacted, while in Panama a bill for similar legislation was introduced in Congress.

Government harassment was also evident in Argentina and Guatemala, where the media have come under direct and indirect pressure by the national and state governments. The same was occurring in Brazil, Panama, Nicaragua and Uruguay, where governments or official agencies used discrimination in the placement of official advertising as a means of pressuring the media.

The IAPA Executive Committee called for stricter compliance with the principles of the IAPA-sponsored Declaration of Chapultepec as a means of respecting freedom of the press and democracy, which states that "no people or society can be free without freedom of expression and of the press" and that "the exercise of this freedom is not something that authorities grant, it is an inalienable right of the people."

The following are the principal threats to freedom of the press being faced by the countries of the Americas:

Argentina

There is no let-up in the political-judicial harassment of El Liberal of Santiago del Estero by the Peronist state government. Gov. Carlos Juárez is behind 4,000 lawsuits filed by women belonging to a feminist wing of the ruling party and contrived to have the local judiciary order a number of preventive embargoes against the newspaper. The federal Supreme Court is currently reviewing this process. Juárez is also using placement of official advertising to punish El Liberal and "reward" other media, in clear discrimination and misuse of public funds.

Brazil

Increasingly evident is a veritable "industry" of damages awards being levied against the media, amounting to substantial sums that are affecting the role of the press and the very survival of many media outlets. Hit with big damages awards, totaling the equivalent of $1,176,470, were the daily newspaper Extra of Rio de Janeiro; the daily Paperá of Salto; the Tres Communications Group, which publishes the magazine Istoé; the Editora Abril publishing house of São Paulo, and radio station Radio Eldorado, of the O. Estado de S. Paulo Group. In addition, fines imposed on media and individual journalists amounted to the equivalent of 400 minimum monthly salaries.

In the face of ongoing discrimination in the placement of official advertising, the Salvador, Bahia, newspaper A Tarde on May 8 filed suit against the State of Bahia and the city of Salvador.

Chile

The "Law on Freedom of Information and of Opinion and the Practice of Journalism" went into effect on May 18. The legislation was described by the IAPA as "a new means of regulating the news media and journalists", as all the provisions curtailing press freedom could well have been repealed without the need for any new such law. Among its positive aspects, the law revoked regulations empowering judges to order court reporting bans at their whim, it did away with use of military tribunals to try those accused of offending the military in the media, and it scrapped Article 6, paragraph b of the State Security Law which had made journalists answerable in court for anything they wrote that offended senior officials.

Also of concern is the launch of a free daily newspaper in Santiago funded by public monies. The afternoon paper, La Voz de la Tarde, is published by Empresa Periodística La Voz, S.A., a subsidiary of the state-owned Empresa Periodística La Nación, S.A.

Colombia

Seven journalists have been murdered in the past three months - Eduardo Estrada Gutiérrez, Jorge Enrique Urbano, José Dubiel Vásquez, Arquímedes Arias Henao, Pablo Emilio Parra Castañeda, Yesid Marulanda Romero and Flavio Bedoya Tovar. Three other journalists were kidnapped.

There were also numerous violent attacks on news media, threats to and abduction of journalists, as well as government pressure being exerted on journalists for their editorial policies, such as in the case of Edgar Artunduaga, fired from his job at Radio Caracol over his strong criticism of President Andrés Pastrana.

Costa Rica

In a rare incidence of violence, journalist Parmenio Medina, was murdered. He was a radio producer and host of the political satire program "La Patada" (The Kick), broadcast by Radio Monumental in San José.

Three days before his death an IAPA mission visited San José and called on a group of legislators for "greater guarantees and respect for freedom of the press," especially regarding a number of laws and regulations that have spawned a whole series of lawsuits and damages awards against the press, leading many media and journalists to resort to self-censorship.

Cuba

Since November 1997 the government has been holding in prison, in deplorable conditions, journalist Bernardo Arévalo Padrón, sentenced to six years for the crime of insulting President Fidel Castro and Vice President Carlos Lage. Sentenced to two years imprisonment on May 24 this year was José González Bridón on charges of spreading "false news against world peace."

Despite the complete control of the media and inability to access official information, there are 20 independent news agencies and a number of new ones are emerging, such as the one recently launched in Havana, the Manuel Márquez Sterling Journalists Association, which comprises 50 independent journalists from throughout Cuba.

Dominican Republic

Cameraman Cristino Rodríguez of the program "Detrás de la Noticia" (Behind the News), was shot at. Police said they were questioning a leader of the ruling party in Santiago, the Dominican Republics second city, as a suspect in the shooting. The television program is conducted in Santiago by journalist Esteban Rosario, who himself was beaten up earlier this year.

Television reporters and commentators complained of government pressure and the imposition of censorship on two radio producers. Meanwhile, the disappearance on May 26, 1994, of columnist and university professor Narciso González remains a mystery. He went missing after roundly criticizing then President Joaquín Balaguer and senior military officers, accusing them of carrying out electoral fraud in the general elections that year.

Ecuador

In what is a clear interference in the medias editorial policies, the possible passage of a Childhood and Adolescence Code would require them to give free space to promoting and publicizing judicial and administrative edicts.

The editor of the El Observador newspaper, Wilson Cabrera, was sentenced to three months in prison for committing "serious libel" in having alleged irregularities in government agencies and in the administration of justice in his province in eastern Ecuador. On one hand, the Deputy Director of the daily Expreso of Guayaquil will face a criminal trial brought about by a political party representative because he felt alluded to through the publication of an editorial on corruption that has affected political activities.

Guatemala

The editors of the daily newspapers Prensa Libre and elPeriódico, together with a number of their reporters, were the victims of a smear campaign and the targets of verbal and physical abuse after publishing complaints of political discrimination by the government in the grant of broadcast licenses and concessions.

Haiti

Journalists complained of serious difficulties in accessing official news sources. There is also a prevailing culture of self-censorship out of fear of reprisals and pressure and threats being exerted by members of the ruling Lavalás Family party.

The murder of journalists Jean Leopold Dominique and Gerard Denoze continue unpunished, despite the fact that charges have been laid in the Dominique case, in which the judge rejoined the investigation after withdrawing under threat.

Mexico

The Mexico-U.S. border continues being the scene of the greatest number of violent incidents and murder of journalists. In March, Saúl Antonio Martínez, managing editor of El Imparcial of Matamoros, Tamaulipas state, was murdered after being kidnapped. Many crimes against journalists remain completely unpunished despite a commitment by the federal government to put pressure on the states to investigate and solve them.

Nicaragua

The Law Establishing the Journalists Colegio, which provides for the licensing of journalists, entered into effect. It violates every constitutional precept and international law governing freedom of expression and of assembly. A writ has been filed contesting the constitutionality of the law and seeking its repeal, on the grounds that it would prevent any citizen being able to receive and impart news.

The government of President Arnoldo Alemán continues with its systematic policy of discrimination in the placement of official advertising. The newspaper El Nuevo Diario is its latest victim, as in the recent past were La Prensa, Barricada and other media with differing political views.

Panama

A new legislative bill proposes the obligatory licensing of journalists, restricting the ability of foreigners to work in Panamanian media, establishment of a conscience clause and making a code of conduct obligatory for the press. It also, among other things, would set rules for the length and content of news stories.

Paraguay

Two laws went into effect in mid-July - one on "Administrative Transparency" and the other "Regulating Information of a Private Nature." Far from providing for greater transparency in government and guaranteeing free access to public records, the legislation actually restrict this right and the work of journalists, in particular setting up protective barriers to prevent reporting on corruption among public officials.

Peru

A case of censorship was reported in April, with a ban on publishing exit polls during presidential elections. This was an interpretation of a congressional measure passed last year allowing reporting only after the official vote count. That was later thrown out, following an appeal by the media to the Constitutional Court.

The ban on publishing opinion polls during electoral periods is still current and has been extended a week prior to the respective elections.

Uruguay

Unfortunately, the rewarding or punishment of media through discriminatory placement of official advertising by state agencies and municipal governments is on the increase. Also profilerating are lawsuits based on an abusive right of reply clearly curtailing freedom of expression in every sense.

Venezuela

The Supreme Court in June issued a ruling regulating the concept of "truthful information, the responsibility of the media for the views they express and their hiring practices. The ruling responded to a petition by journalist Elias Santana that he be allowed to exercise a right of reply to respond to remarks about him made by President Hugo Chávez on August 3 and 27 last year on his radio program "Aló Presidente" (Hello, President).

The IAPA called the Supreme Court decision "political, discriminatory and beyond the limits," saying that it sought to create "protective shields" for an official culture of intolerance. In addition, it declared that the Supreme Court ruling implied a clear governmental interference in private matters, citing the phrase it contained that "it is an offense against truthful and impartial information to have a majority of columnists of one sole ideological viewpoint."

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