(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 26 April 2001 IAPA press release: IAPA concerned about press freedom abuses in two Argentine provinces Miami (26 April 2001) – In letters to the Argentine authorities, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) expressed its concern over abuses against the dailies El Liberal and Río Negro, based in the […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 26 April 2001 IAPA press release:
IAPA concerned about press freedom abuses in two Argentine provinces
Miami (26 April 2001) – In letters to the Argentine authorities, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) expressed its concern over abuses against the dailies El Liberal and Río Negro, based in the Argentine provinces of Santiago del Estero and Río Negro, respectively. These letters were signed by President Danilo Arbilla and the president of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Rafael Molina.
In a letter to Argentine Interior Minister Ramon Mestre, the IAPA again emphasised the lack of press freedom in Santiago del Estero, as illustrated by the provincial government’s harassment and political persecution of the daily El Liberal. The IAPA noted that “the way in which the government penalises this media outlet for its accusations and criticism is also illustrated by the discriminatory granting of government advertising.”
The IAPA stated that despite the fact that El Liberal is the only media outlet certified by the Circulations Inspection Institute (Instituto Verificador de Circulaciones, IVC) and has the largest print-run in the province, “as of July of last year, the provincial government has stopped buying advertising space in the newspaper (be that for announcements of auctions, results of lottery draws, final dates for tax payments, etc.), although it continues to do so in other written and on-line media.”
Between 19 and 21 November of last year, the IAPA sent a delegation to Santiago del Estero.
Arbilla, director of the Uruguayan weekly publication Búsqueda, explained that since then, “the current situation has not improved and we fear that, unless there is political intervention, the provincial government will continue in its efforts to weaken a journalistic company. This would be a serious affront to press freedom and freedom of expression and would bring into question whether there is a state of law in Argentina.”
In a letter to the governor of the Río Negro province, Pablo Verani, the IAPA president and the president of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Rafael Molina, from the Ahora publication, based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, expressed their concern that light has not been shed on a number of incidents of recent weeks. These incidents involved attacks against the daily Río Negro and the newspaper’s journalists, due to their reporting on irregularities in the local administration.
The letter notes that on 29 March two individuals tried to set fire to Río Negro’s warehouse, apparently in response to the newspaper having reported that the government had given preferential treatment to a local businessman. The IAPA also condemned the death threats directed against the correspondent for the daily Río Negro in Neuquén, Jorge Gadano, in early April. The journalist was apparently threatened as the result of an article on mismanagement of public funds in two municipalities in the Río Negro province.
“We are concerned, – the letter continues – because when there are violent attacks against the press and journalists, it is expected that in a democratic system such acts would be promptly investigated and severely punished. When this does not occur, press freedom and freedom of expression are seriously hampered. The impunity that the assailants face encourages other potential aggressors to carry out attacks in an attempt to intimidate, silence and censor the press. This in turn is a violation of the public’s right to information.”
