(AMARC/IFEX) – The following is a 19 December 2006 AMARC press release: IACHR rapporteur acknowledges importance of community radio stations and recommends swift passage of related law Uruguay, 19 December 2006 – Ignacio Alvarez, special rapporteur for freedom of expression with the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR), urged Uruguayan authorities to give their “immediate […]
(AMARC/IFEX) – The following is a 19 December 2006 AMARC press release:
IACHR rapporteur acknowledges importance of community radio stations and recommends swift passage of related law
Uruguay, 19 December 2006 – Ignacio Alvarez, special rapporteur for freedom of expression with the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR), urged Uruguayan authorities to give their “immediate consideration” to the draft law recognising community radio and television stations, a law intended to fill a gap in existing legislation.
After his visit to Uruguay from 13 to 16 December 2006, by invitation of the government of President Tabaré Vázquez, the rapporteur released an official report in which he affirmed that the bill, entitled Use of the Radioelectric Spectrum and Community Radio Media, “incorporates international standards on this topic”, thereby indicating his explicit and strong support for the bill’s content.
Alvarez notes that he received information during his visit regarding the existence of “a significant number of radio stations that operate on the fringes of the law”, the majority of which “self-identify as ‘community’ stations without being so”. He also notes that other stations “are community-based and seek legal recognition.” Recognising the importance of such media in allowing access and participation to the poorer classes, Alvarez recommended that the government “take appropriate legal and administrative steps. These would include the passage of legislation to establish open, public procedures for the competitive assignation of radioelectric frequencies.”
According to Alvarez, any new regulatory framework must take into account “democratic criteria that would guarantee equal opportunity for all” in the assignment of these frequencies. He also asserted that “a part of the spectrum should be reserved for community radio stations.” In harmony with best practices worldwide, the draft law before Parliament would ensure just this.
The swift approval of a law that recognises “authentic community radio stations” would be, for Alvarez, the best means by which to avoid the abuses incurred by the operation of illegal stations, including commercial ones. In such a context, and with the passage of a non-discriminatory legal framework compatible with the Pact of San José de Costa Rica, he believes that, on the “administrative level”, the authorities would be in a position to fully implement this legislation and thereby to ensure illegal radio stations cease to exist.
To ensure compatibility with inter-American human rights standards, it will be necessary to adequately define the concept “community radio station”. According to Alvarez, “one must keep in mind certain minimal criteria, including a) their social objective, to serve geographically-defined communities or interests; b) their being of a non-profit nature; and c) their operational and financial autonomy from both government and commercial enterprises.”
Gustavo Gómez
Director, Legislation and the Right to Communication Programme
AMARC-LAC
