Freedom of Expression
5 - Chapter IV - Evaluation of the Situation of Freedom of Expression in the Hemisphere (continued)
f. Nicaragua
1. The Special Rapporteur notes with extreme concern the new Professional Association of Journalists Act, which contravenes the American Convention on Human Rights. On December 13, 2000, the National Assembly approved the new Professional Association of Journalists Act, which states that journalists must be entered in the journalism professionals’ register, to be managed by the Association. It also establishes that only persons holding journalism licenses and those having 10 or more years of experience in the profession will be recognized as journalists. The law also adds that individuals working in the field who do not meet these criteria shall be prosecuted by the courts and punished with criminal sanctions.
2. The Special Rapporteur reminds the Government of Nicaragua that the IACHR has declared this type of requirement for practicing the profession of journalism to be restrictive to freedom of expression and contrary to the American Convention. As such, that law contravenes Principle 6 of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression.
On this matter the Inter-American Court stated
The professional journalist is not, nor can he be, anything but someone who has decided to exercise freedom of expression in a continues, regular and paid manner. As a result, compulsory licensing cannot be invoked in the case of journalism because they would have the effect of permanently depriving those who are not members of the right to make full use of the rights that article 13 of the Convention grants to each individual. Hence, it would violate the basic principles of a democratic public order on which the Convention itself is based[1]
3. Lastly, the Special Rapporteur notes that when the American Convention proclaims that freedom of expression and thought includes the right to express information and ideas through any medium, it is underlining the fact that the expression and the diffusion of ideas are indivisible. Therefore, a restriction of the possible means of diffusion represents a restriction of the right of freedom of expression.
g. Honduras[2]
4. According to the information received by the Special Rapporteur, the practice of journalism in Honduras faces a number of limitations that could inhibit freedom of expression. The Office of the Special Rapporteur has learned that social communicators are suffering from judicial persecution, threats and aggression as a result of the exercise of their profession. Additionally, legislation exists that violates Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights and contradicts that which is established in the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and which should be modified in order to bring it into compliance with international standards.
5. In 2000, journalist Leonarda Andino, from the daily newspaper El Herald, was summoned to appear in criminal court to answer charges concerning a report on the situation of the justice system in Honduras, based on a preliminary report by the National Human Rights Commissioner, Leo Valladares. The court threatened to sue her for defamation and slander of judges and magistrates.
6. In 2000, Journalists Renato Alvarez and Roxana Guevara, Press Director of Channel 63, and Press Director of Vica Noticias, respectively, were summoned to appear before the Public Prosecutor for having reported to the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), violations of freedom of expression by the government. Shortly thereafter, Roxana Guevara was harassed until she was forced to resign from her job. The journalist had published a caricature by Allan McDonald, calling attention to the fact that surveys carried out by the government showed that the Honduran Head of State was more popular than the Pope John Paul II. According to information received, the major shareholders of the network were threatened that it would be shut down—using the pretext of the debt of several million it owed to the national electricity company—if it did not force the journalist to resign.
7. In 1999 and early 2000, two human rights agencies—COFADEH and CODEH—reported that the Centro Conjunto de Informaciones (Joint Information Center) (COIN) was functioning as a center for electronic espionage targeting the press, the opposition, government officials and businessmen, for intelligence purposes.
8. According to information provided by the two human rights agencies, if a criticism by a journalist is considered serious, the President calls the owners of the media and sends them the transcript of the content of radio and television programs or newspaper clippings. The content profiles are sent as a warning to the media owners of “transgressions” by journalists of the policy of not criticizing the government.
9. On April 26, 2000, journalist Julio César Pineda, news coordinator for Radio Progreso in the locailty of Yoro, was the victim of a criminal attack. According to information received, Pineda was wounded by a bullet in an attack that occurred in front of his home in San Pedro Sula. Months earlier, as a member of a local human rights commission, Pineda had investigated issues related to labor unions, migration and medical negligence in public hospitals.
Laws Limiting the Practice of the Journalistic Profession
a. Compulsory Membership in the College of Journalists
10. Honduras has had the Honduran College of Journalists since 1979. According to information received by this Rapporteur, the College of Journalists has become an organization that restricts freedom of expression and limits the free practice of journalism. This labor association is responsible for seeing that non-member journalists are fired.
11. The Honduran Criminal Code provides for jail terms for the illegal practice of journalism. Furthermore, the Law of the College of Journalists stipulates fines for news organizations that hire journalists not licensed by the College.
b. Desacato and Libel and Slander
12. Other legal restrictions on the practice of freedom of expression in Honduras are found in Article 345 of the Penal Code, which provides for jail sentences for journalists who denigrate the image of the President and government officials:
Any person who threatens, libels, slanders, insults, or in any other way attacks the character of a public official in the exercise of his or her functions, by act, word, or in writing, shall be sentenced to two to four years in prison. If the offended party is the President of the Republic or one of the senior officials mentioned in Article 325, above, the sentence shall be three to six years.
5. Information received concerning the countries in the hemisphere during 2000
13. The information presented in this section was received by this office during the year 2000. In some cases, this information was sent directly by the victims of violations of freedom of expression. In others, it was sent by prestigious international and
national organizations that work in the defense of freedom of expression and human rights in general.
Argentina
14. On January 4, 2000, the Minister of Security of Buenos Aires province, Aldo Rico, threatened and insulted a group of media photographers who were covering his visit to Pinamar. Angered by the presence of the photographers, the official accused them of printing “lies and hypocrisy” and threatened to send the police “to chase them.” A few days later, he publicly apologized.[3]
15. According to information received in the office of IAPA in Salta province, on January 6, 2000, the commander of the Infantry Corps of the Santiago del Estero police, Major Daniel del Castillo, called a group of journalists “hoodlums” and attempted to punch a photographer covering the courts when the police were testifying in a case involving blackmail and bribery. Last year, the same officer had physically and verbally assaulted three journalists, but the case was never investigated.[4]
16. On January 18, 2000, the Press Syndicate of Santa Cruz province complained of a series of measures taken by the Provincial Secretary of Security, Néstor Peña, which restricted free access to information. Peña gave express orders to all the police chiefs of the province not to give information of any sort to the media, under threat of penalties. Journalists in Santa Cruz province alleged that the Security Department had instituted measures that limit freedom of expression and journalists right to inform. The provision violates Law 120.808, which guarantees “free access to all sources of information of public interest and open access to all offices of the provincial or municipal government.”
17. On March 29, 2000, the journalist Luis Giménez of the Telam news agency was informed that two unknown individuals had been staking out his home and taking pictures of his car license plate and the front of his house. The next day, the journalist received a telephone threat from a person who said he was from SIDE and warned him: “You’re going to be another Cabezas,” a reference to the news photographer José Luis Cabezas, who was assassinated in 1997. Giménez said he had received telephone threats before.[5]
18. On March 29, 2000, unidentified persons fired on the house of Bernardo García Hamilton, a member of the board of directors of the newspaper La Gaceta de Tucumán, in the province of the same name. The family was asleep at the time of the attack. The business executive says the attack occurred because La Gaceta had uncovered cases of corruption.[6]
19. On April 29, 2000, journalist Maria Julia Oliván of the D Day program and Veintidós (22) magazine was insulted by Monsignor Emilio Ogñenovich, archbishop of Mercedes-Luján, who also condoned physical aggression by one of his staff. The event occurred as they were leaving a mass, when the reporter asked the archbishop about legal complaints filed regarding the situation of a children’s home that was under the aegis of the archdiocese. In front of the television cameras, Ogñenovich accused the reporter of belonging to the “gang” and called her a “tramp.” Before he left, he asked one of his aides to get the reporter’s name, and she was later physically assaulted by one of them.[7]
20. On May 17, 2000, Monsignor Julio Forchi, in the community of Mercedes, Buenos Aires province, said that some journalists needed a lobotomy “to see if they would calm down a bit and respect their neighbor.” The expression was reflected in a column in the newspaper El Oeste of that community, in reaction to investigative reporting that revealed that in a children’s home belonging to the diocese, the residents were living in deplorable conditions.[8]
21. On May 28, 2000, a group of armed individuals attacked distribution centers for the newspaper La Gaceta in Tucumán province. The assailants broke down the doors, seized copies of the paper, and burned them in the street. The attack is presumed to be a result of the newspapers conflicts with union of newspaper and magazine vendors. As a result of the attack, people were injured, vehicles were damaged, there were threats against employees and the sale of national newspapers was interrupted. [9]
22. In June of 2000, the governor of Santiago del Estero province, Carlos Juárez, banned the showing of the work El Cartero de Neruda (The Mailman of Neruda) in the May 25th Provincial Theater because it contained erotic scenes. The Rapporteur sent a letter to the governor expressing concern for this act of censorship.
23. Beginning in July 2000, there were reports from various organizations that defend press freedom[10] expressing concern over repeated allegations by the newspaper El Liberal of Santiago del Estero province that it was the target of anonymous threats, tapping of its telephone lines and distribution of inflammatory pamphlets against its reporters. The events were linked to recent investigative reporting of irregularities on the part of the provincial government in bids on and allocation of housing. The threats and warnings were repeated on August 1, 2000, this time also against the newspaper La Voz del Interior of Cordoba province. The editorial office of this newspaper received an anonymous telephone call that referred to the presence of a correspondent of La Voz del Interior in Santiago del Estero and threatened his life. Previously, a distributor of the Cordoba newspaper had been threatened by an anonymous person who warned him that the newspaper would be torched if it continued publishing stories that displeased “Tata” (Governor Carlos Juárez). The newspaper had criticized the activities and dealings of Governor Juárez.
24. On August 28, 2000, Jorge Larrosa, a photographer of the newspaper Página 12, received telephone threats. The journalist attributed the threats to a reprisal for his photographs that had implicated police in a bank robbery that occurred in September 1999. On November 14, 2000, Oscar Angel Flores, news editor of Radio Dimensión of San Luis and correspondent of the newspaper Clarín of Buenos Aires, and Mario Otero, host of radio programs on FM Radio Universidad San Luis, both in San Luis province, contacted the Rapporteur to report that an advisor of Governor Adolfo Rodríguez Saá, Eduardo Anibal Endeiza, was upset because of the broadcast of an investigative report on corruption, and threatened both journalists. The journalist reported that this was one more element in a series of threats and harassment from local authorities.
25. On November 28, 2000, Eduardo Delbono, owner and journalist of the Merlo City radio station, alleged that two unidentified individuals threatened his life. The journalist reported that he had received the threat while driving his car and that the person who threatened him was armed. The journalist attributed the threat to the station’s refusal to honor a request from the city that it not air calls from some listeners who criticized the Merlo City government. He also said that the city at one time wanted to take down its transmitter tower on the pretext that it lacked a proper permit.
Bolivia
26. The Rapporteur now presents information received on harassment of various media in the context of the state of siege decreed by the government on April 8, 2000. The measure was decreed in reaction to a social protest movement begun by peasant associations and student groups.[11]
27. On March 17, 2000, Ximena Vásquez, a photographer for the newspaper Presencia, was assaulted by police while covering a strike in the city of La Paz.
28. On April 10, 2000, Oswaldo Rioja, a reporter for the television channel PAT-Channel 39 of Cochabamba, was threatened. The channel had aired scenes of repression of demonstrators by the army in Cochabamba. In addition, radio stations Chaka, Radio Ondas del Titicaca, and Radio Omazuyos of Achacachi were occupied by the army.
29. On April 13, 2000, the editorial offices of the newspaper Presencia received a telephoned bomb threat. News editor Gloria Eyzaguierre and reporter Jaime Buitrago of the newspaper received death threats. Previously, the newspaper had published information about illegal gambling halls and drug trafficking linked to some people in power.
30. On June 11, 2000, journalist Roland Méndez Alpire was wounded in one leg when he left the house of deputy Roberto Landivar, in the city of Santa Cruz. Méndez Alpire has undertaken several investigations of corruption and drug trafficking.[12]
Brazil
31. On January 3, 2000, the Syndicate of Professional Journalists of Rio de Janeiro reported aggression against news photographers Fernando Bizerra of the Jornal do Brasil, Edivaldo Ferreira, José Paulo Lacerda, and Rosa Costa of the Estado news agency, and Sheila Chyagas, who works for the Abril publishing house. The journalists were brutally attacked by soldiers of the military police while they were covering the year-end celebration at Copacabana Fort. The soldiers also threatened to kill Bizerra.[13]
32. On February 23, 2000, reporter Erick Guimaraes, photographer Marco Studart and his driver Valdir Gomez Soares, of the newspaper O Povo in the city of Fortaleza were arrested while they investigated reports of corruption in the municipal government.[14]
33. In March of 2000, Almir Carvalho, publisher of the newspaper A Palavra, had his life threatened by the mayor of Alegre, Gilvan Dutra, for publishing an article.[15]
34. In April of 2000, journalist Claudia Bastos, of TV Tapajós, had her life threatened several times. Unidentified individuals broke into her house to search her belongings. The journalist had reported on the alleged involvement of officials, business executives and politicians of the city of Itaituba in drug and weapons trafficking.[16]
35. In July of 2000, Judge Adair Longhini prohibited newspapers and radio and television stations from releasing any news about the local elections, arguing that it could be interpreted as electioneering.[17]
Canada
36. On May 1, 2000, freelance photographer Valerie Remise and Andrew Dobrowolskyj and Yves Schaeffner of the Montreal weekly Ici were detained while covering a demonstration in Montreal. The photographers were released the following morning and charges were filed against them for “illegal gathering, damages and disturbing the public order.”
37. On June 15 2000, Toronto police seized news film and videotapes from 14 Canadian media organizations. The films and videotapes contained shots of the anti-poverty protest that took place on the same day at Queen’s Park (the Ontario Legislature). On November 1, 2000, the Supreme Court of Justice in Toronto rejected an appeal for the rescinding of the search warrant for the films and videotapes on the basis of an infringement of the constitutional rights of the media.
38. The Special Rapporteur expresses concern over reports received about seizure of press footage for investigations. Journalists must not be made to perceive themselves as acting as agents of the police in newsgathering. Such a perception interferes with their role as independent sources of information on affairs of public concern.
Costa Rica
39. In March of 2001, according to information received, the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court affirmed the criminal penalty for alleged “moral damage” against the journalist Mauricio Herrera Ulloa, imposing a penalty upon him of 120 days’ fine and the registration of his name in a judicial criminal register, for having reported information published in the European media that raised questions about the former Costa Rican Ambassador to the Atomic Energy Commission, Felix Przedborski. In addition, the Special Rapporteur received information about a judicial prohibition against the newspaper La Nación to “remove the existing link on the Internet in La Nación Digital, between the last name Przedborski and the articles complained of, as well as to establish a link between these articles and the dispositive part of this sentence, which is ordered to be published.” La Nación was also ordered to pay the legal fees of the plaintiff’s attorney.
Ecuador
40. In the context of the institutional crisis experienced in Ecuador at the beginning of 2000, the Rapporteur received the following information:
41. On February 16, 2000, Rafael Costa, editor of the television news program Telecentro received a letter bomb in his office. According to the information received, the bomb exploded when an envelope containing a videocassette was opened. The letter had been mailed from Cuenca, capital of Azuay province. Journalists Andrés Carrión and Gonzalo Ortíz Crespo also received threats.
42. The Special Rapporteur expresses his concern over recent initiatives taken in the Congress to limit freedom of expression. On April 20, 2000, a Congressional resolution blocked media access to the legislative chamber for coverage of the regular session. Furthermore, President of Congress Juan José Pons ordered a review of the employment contracts of some journalists who are advisors to deputies and who took part in a protest against the resolution.
[1] CIDH, OC 5-85, Supra note 15, para. 74-76.
[2] The information presented below was received by this Rapporteur from the Committee of Relatives of Missing Detainees in Honduras (COFADEH), the Citizens’ Forum, and the Honduras Documentation Center.
[3] Periodistas.
[4] IAPA.
[5]International Federation of Journalists.
[6] Periodistas.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] IAPA.
[10] See press releases of Adepa, IAPA, Periodistas.
[11]Reporters without Borders.
[12] IAPA.
[13]International Federation of Journalists.
[14] WAN.
[15]International Federation of Journalists.
[16] Id.
[17] Id.