(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 3 August 2004 IAPA press release: IAPA concerned about media restrictions in Venezuela Miami (August 3, 2004) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) expressed its concern over a decision last week by the Venezuelan Supreme Court ruling in favor of the mandatory licensing of journalists, which the organisation […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 3 August 2004 IAPA press release:
IAPA concerned about media restrictions in Venezuela
Miami (August 3, 2004) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) expressed its concern over a decision last week by the Venezuelan Supreme Court ruling in favor of the mandatory licensing of journalists, which the organisation considers to be a limitation to the practice of journalism in that country.
The Constitutional Chamber of the Venezuelan Supreme Court ratified a law that would require, among other conditions, a university degree in journalism, communications, or the equivalent from a Venezuelan university and membership in the National Association of Journalists. It also imposes jail terms of between three and six months for those who practice journalism in an illegal manner.
The decision of the high court, which reverses a 1995 appeal against several articles of the 1994 Law on the Practice of Journalism, “goes against the complete exercise of freedom of the press by defining who can and who cannot be a journalist. It is a decision that restricts freedom of expression and is contrary to international agreements,” affirmed IAPA President Jack Fuller.
Fuller was referring to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ Advisory Opinion of 1985, which establishes that “a mandatory licensing law is not compatible with the American Convention on Human Rights; this prevents those who are not members of journalist associations from practicing journalism and limits access to the profession to only those who graduate with a certain university degree.”
Meanwhile, Fuller mentioned that the Declaration of Chapultepec and the Inter-American Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights stipulate that “compulsory membership or the requirement of a university degree for the practice of journalism constitute an unlawful restriction of freedom of expression.”
Fuller, from the Tribune Publishing Company, will lead an IAPA delegation to Venezuela on August 6-7.
