(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 3 September 2002 IAPA press release: IAPA calls on hemispheric nations to regard crimes against journalists as federal offenses Conclusions from Tijuana meeting: Update laws, creation of special prosecutor units, no statute of limitations, reform of criminal codes and procedures, freedom of expression as condition for international financial aid […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 3 September 2002 IAPA press release:
IAPA calls on hemispheric nations to regard crimes against journalists as federal offenses
Conclusions from Tijuana meeting: Update laws, creation of special prosecutor units, no statute of limitations, reform of criminal codes and procedures, freedom of expression as condition for international financial aid
MIAMI, Florida (September 3, 2002) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today called on the nations of the Western Hemisphere to amend their laws so as to make crimes against journalists federal offenses, a plea that emerged from the Tijuana Conclusions, drawn up after a three-day conference in Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico.
Some 250 journalists, most of them from Mexico, but also from the United States and other countries, took part in the conference titled “Drug Trafficking: Journalists At Risk,” organized by the IAPA in conjunction with newspapers Frontera, from Tijuana and El Universal, from Mexico City, held August 28-30 in the border town of Tijuana. The event was chaired by IAPA President Robert J. Cox, assistant editor of The Post and Courier, Charleston, South Carolina.
Following is the full text of the conclusions:
Tijuana Conclusions
Convinced that drug trafficking, in its desire to silence the people’s right to inform and be informed, is one of the worst and most reprehensible forms of attacks on freedom of the press, the Inter American Press Association held a working session titled “Drug Trafficking: Journalists At Risk” in Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico, on August 28, 29 and 30, 2002, with the objective of coming up with new and more effective ways of guaranteeing the exercise of freedom of expression, especially in the areas of greatest danger in the Americas.
The conference focused on the growing danger that drug trafficking and its derivative crimes pose for press freedom.
From the presentations made during the conference, the Inter American Press Association has come to the following
CONCLUSIONS:
1. States have an obligation to provide the utmost guarantees of safety in the unfettered practice of journalism, since without press freedom there can be no democracy. As a consequence, it is for them to amend their respective laws to achieve the following objectives:
(a) that crimes against journalists be regarded as federal offenses or be liable to be dealt with under special jurisdiction as a way of guaranteeing greater transparency in the conduct of the corresponding legal proceedings and preventing this kind of offense from going unpunished.
(b) that the principle of no statute of limitations be established for crimes against journalists, because they amount to crimes against society.
(c) that encouragement be given to the creation of special prosecutor units to investigate attacks against journalists and news media more effectively and rapidly.
(d) That, following the example of Colombia, the reform of criminal codes and criminal procedure be encouraged, with the aim that a crime or attack against journalists be considered an aggravating circumstance.
2. Insisting on the need for international agencies to consider the existence of freedom of the press to be a pre-condition for granting financial or economic aid to countries in the Americas.
3. The commitment is made to continue the “Unpunished Crimes Against Journalists” and “Journalists at Risk” projects, under which the IAPA will continue holding this kind of conference and promoting other activities to provide enhanced training for journalists in areas of great risk so they may be able to carry out their duties.
