According to 14 September 1996 reports in the dailies “La Republica” and “El Comercio”, Minister of Defense General Tomas Castillo Meza made a veiled threat against press freedom on 13 September, when he went before Congress to explain intelligence reports leaked by the media. The reports revealed the intercepted radio communications of drug trafficker Demetrio […]
According to 14 September 1996 reports in the dailies “La Republica”
and “El Comercio”, Minister of Defense General Tomas Castillo Meza
made a veiled threat against press freedom on 13 September, when he
went before Congress to explain intelligence reports leaked by the
media. The reports revealed the intercepted radio communications of
drug trafficker Demetrio Chavez Penaherrera (also known as
“Vaticano”).
General Castillo would not take any questions from members of the
congressional sub-committee on drug trafficking (the Subcomision de
Narcotrafico). He would only read a statement which denied that the
confidential reports – leaked by the television news programs “La
Revista Dominical” on Channel 4 and “Contrapunto” on Channel 2 – had
been compiled by naval intelligence agents. He told the members of
the sub-committee that the case had been closed by the military
prosecutor, Colonel Jorge Chavez Lobaton. Calling the incident a
“common crime,” General Castillo recommended that justice officials
file a charge with the Interior Ministry “against civilians involved
in the development of the `apocryphal’ document” (que “el procurador
del sector Justicia proceda a denunciar ante el Ministerio Publico
que existe comision de delito comun … contra el personal civil
comprometido en la elaboracion del documento considerado
`apocrifo'”). This last statement is thought to represent a veiled
threat to press freedom, since it could imply that journalists from
the two television news programs falsified the reports.
“It is not clear what was meant by charging civilians,” said
opposition congresswoman Ana Elena Townsend. For journalists’
associations, the Minister of Defense’s comments were reminiscent of
other comments made in the past few weeks against the media by
Minister of Justice Carlos Hermoza Moya (see IFEX alert of 13
September) and Ayacucho bishop Monsignor Juan Luis Cipriani (see IFEX
alert of 27 August). The two have since retracted their comments,
recognizing that Peru’s Constitution guarantees freedom of
information, opinion, expression and thought.
The ANP is calling on the Minister of Defense to explain who he means
by “civilians” and to keep in mind constitutional provisions against
suspending and closing media outlets, or restricting access to
information.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the President and federal Public Prosecutor:
Appeals To
Ing. Alberto Fujimori Fujimori
President
Palacio de Gobierno
Plaza de Armas
Lima 1, Peru
Fax: +511 4266770 (or +511 4266535 via presidential press office)
Dra. Blanca Nelida Colan Maguino
Public Prosecutor
Lima, Peru
Fax: +511 4 262474 or +511 4264429
Please copy appeals to FIP, the IFJ’s regional office in Latin
America.