(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is an 18 February 2005 IAPA press release: IAPA condemns harassment of Honduran press Miami (February 18, 2005) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has sent a letter to Honduran President Ricardo Maduro asking for immediate action to put an end to the harassment of the media by the leader […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is an 18 February 2005 IAPA press release:
IAPA condemns harassment of Honduran press
Miami (February 18, 2005) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has sent a letter to Honduran President Ricardo Maduro asking for immediate action to put an end to the harassment of the media by the leader of the National Congress. The organization also urged the government to reform the current Electoral Law.
In the letter, the chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Gonzalo Marroquín, asked the Honduran president to intervene to put an end to the campaign of intimidation which violates constitutional principles on freedom of expression and the press.
Marroquín, editor of the Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre, stated in the letter that “these press freedom violations will be debated and analyzed at our meeting in Panama on March 11-14, where more than 300 publishers and journalists from the entire hemisphere will examine press freedom violations.”
The following is the complete text of the letter:
“Mr. President:
On behalf of the Inter American Press Association and its more than 1,300 newspapers in the Western Hemisphere, we would like to express our condemnation of the campaign of intimidation against the media, which is being waged by the president of the National Congress, Porfirio Lobo Sosa, in the run up to primary elections on February 20.
As is well known, Mr. Lobo Sosa, as president of Congress, has been demanding, in a frankly intimidating manner, that the media publish certain information on the Electoral Law. He has warned that any media which refuse to publish the government advertisements or dare to publish election poll results will be fined.
This is a blatant violation of the Constitution and of the Law on Free Expression of Thought, which governs freedom of expression and the press. These threats amount to prior censorship by presuming that a crime is being committed. One can see that we are facing coercive measures against press freedom and free enterprise.
On repeated occasions, our institution has protested the aberrant Electoral Law, unprecedented in the hemisphere, which prohibits publishing poll results 50 days before a primary election and 90 days before general elections. We are convinced that this law alienates citizens from their natural right to information. By restricting the media’s mission to provide information and monitor the government’s activities, the law promotes a culture of silence.
In a previous incident, Mr. Lobo Sosa, with the support of the National Telecommunications Commission and the Superior Electoral Tribunal, recently misused radio and television stations to run party advertisements, when these government slots should be used to air emergency information or information of national interest.
Mr. President, since these actions are an affront on the democratic system, we urge you to take all necessary steps to stop this kind of harassment and reform the Electoral Law with respect to its limitations on media coverage. The right of every Honduran citizen to information should be respected.”
