Ecuador

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today condemned and called for an end to harassment of Ecuadorean journalists who collaborated in the “Panama Papers” international investigation.

CPJ has documented how restrictive media laws, and criminal defamation cases are used against critical outlets in Ecuador.

On 21 September, Jeannine Cruz – who is known for denouncing alleged irregularities in the mayor’s administration – tweeted a link to a video where she questions the actions of the mayor of Loja, José Bolívar Castillo.

Radio Democracia 920 AM has been notified that the Agency for the Regulation and Control of Telecommunications will revoke its license because the station had its license renewed by a now-defunct agency.

Since the evening of December 28 2015, the Communications Secretariat (Secom), via the Spanish company Ares Rights, has been attempting to close down Fundamedios’ website for alleged copyright violation.

In the early morning of December 16 2015, Ecotel TV Station of the city of Loja reported that a group from the National Police and officials of the telecommunications regulatory body violently entered the TV station’s facilities with orders to seize the equipment and leave the station off the air.

On 3 December 2015, the National Assembly approved a package of constitutional amendments proposed by ruling party members. One of the amendments turns communication into a public service, which could turn into a violation of the right to freedom of expression.

EcuadorTV’s news programme accused former journalist Martín Pallares of being a “political actor against the government”, stating that the journalist went to the USA to seek funding from right-wing extremist organizations, for which Fundamedios served as a nexus.

Someone who sent a Facebook message to LaRepública.ec expressed his desire to burn the outlet’s facilities with all its staff inside, while another suggested they should be bombed.

“The government used the threat of a volcanic eruption near Quito to grant itself sweeping powers to deploy the military throughout the country and suspend fundamental rights,” said Daniel Wilkinson, Americas managing director at Human Rights Watch.

Ecuador’s communications body tells Fundamedios that because freedom of expression in protected in the constitution, it is up to the government, and not NGOs to defend it.

On Friday, September 25, the National Communications Secretariat (SECOM) resolved to put on hold the dissolution process of Fundamedios.

On Tuesday 15 September 2015, several mandatory broadcasts ordered by the Communications Secretariat (Secom) interrupted the regular programming of Ecuadorian radio stations to discredit the work of Fundamedios.

For members of the IFEX-ALC, the Secom decision to shut down Fundamedios will affect the free expression landscape in Ecuador and threatens the right of society to be informed. Fundamedios is the only organisation that monitors attacks and threats on the media and defends the right to freedom of expression in Ecuador.

IFEX calls for the immediate retraction of a decision to dissolve local Ecuadorian free expression organisation Fundamedios.

Ecuador’s communications secretariat has accused Fundamedios of disseminating information “with indisputable political overtones,” noting that the organisation should instead be focusing its efforts on “social communication and journalism.”