(WPFC/IFEX) – The following is a 16 April 2004 WPFC letter to Congress President Porfirio Lobo Sosa: April 16, 2004 Mr. Porfirio Lobo Sosa President, Honduran Congress Tegucigalpa, Honduras Your Excellency: On behalf of the World Press Freedom Committee (www.wpfc.org), an umbrella organization representing 44 press freedom groups from throughout the world, I urge the […]
(WPFC/IFEX) – The following is a 16 April 2004 WPFC letter to Congress President Porfirio Lobo Sosa:
April 16, 2004
Mr. Porfirio Lobo Sosa
President, Honduran Congress
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Your Excellency:
On behalf of the World Press Freedom Committee (www.wpfc.org), an umbrella organization representing 44 press freedom groups from throughout the world, I urge the Honduran Congress to follow the courageous example of the Supreme Court of Justice, which, upon the urging of Deputy Jorge Alberto Cálix Orellana, has recommended the elimination of the crime of insult from the country’s legislation.
Justices Nicolás García Sorto, president of the Supreme Court’s Criminal Law Section, Martha Castro and Héctor Fortín agreed with a motion of unconstitutionality submitted to the court by Deputy Cálix, maintaining that Article 345 of the Criminal Code, which regulates the crime of insult, “violates the principle of equality established by the Republic’s Constitution.”
The justices sent their opinion to Congress for the elimination of Article 345 to become law. Now the Justice Committee must process the initiative and send it to the full floor of Congress for final approval.
I also want to congratulate Deputy Cálix, whose exemplary show of leadership is making possible the elimination of this article that represses press freedom, which is a principle consecrated in the Honduran Constitution. Article 345 shields a selected group of public officials from the scrutiny of the rest of the Honduran people.
In his motion submitted in November, Deputy Cálix states: “This law provides public officials with a level of protection higher than that of private citizens, which is contradictory to the democratic principle that holds the government accountable to higher standards of public scrutiny in order to avoid and monitor abuses of power.”
This law also constitutes a challenge to the inter-American justice system, which, through the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, declared insult laws “contradictory” to Article 13 of the San José Pact, of which Honduras is a signatory. Since the commission made its recommendation in 1994, only four countries have complied by eliminating their desacato laws: Argentina, Paraguay, Costa Rica and Peru.
“[Insult laws] violate the full exercise of freedom of expression guaranteed by the American Convention, since they inhibit criticism by instilling fear of judicial action, and they lend themselves to abuse, as a way of silencing criticism,” said Dr. Eduardo Bertoni, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the OAS, after his latest visit to Honduras.
Moreover, the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the European Court of Human Rights all have rejected these laws.
Insult laws date from the Roman Empire and were written to protect the emperor from any criticism from the people. Obviously, its undemocratic nature and contradiction of the Honduran Constitution make Article 345 an anachronistic norm for a country based on the rule of law.
Your excellency, this is a magnificent opportunity for the Honduran Congress to offer a lesson in equanimity and democracy before the community of nations. We urge you and your fellow deputies to speedily approve the elimination of Article 345 from Honduran legislation.
Respectfully Yours,
E. Markham Bench
Executive Director
World Press Freedom Committee
