(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 2 May 2002 IAPA press release: World Press Freedom Day * Message from IAPA President Robert J. Cox, Assistant editor of The Post and Courier, Charleston, South Carolina MIAMI, Florida (May 2, 2002)-This May 3, World Press Freedom Day, is a particularly opportune time to bear in mind the […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 2 May 2002 IAPA press release:
World Press Freedom Day *
Message from IAPA President Robert J. Cox,
Assistant editor of The Post and Courier, Charleston, South Carolina
MIAMI, Florida (May 2, 2002)-This May 3, World Press Freedom Day, is a particularly opportune time to bear in mind the importance of press freedom in preserving democracy. The link between press freedom and democracy was evidenced in Venezuela in mid-April and before that in Peru. In both nations it was demonstrated that democratic legitimacy may be measured by the degree of respect for press freedom and the guarantees provided to ensure its existence.
The state of press freedom has been undermined both by external and internal attacks on the reporting of the news. However, the public is more aware of the benefits of freedom and its associated values. For example, there is a general realization that access to public records is vital. Although provided for in the majority of national constitutions, this right is not guaranteed in full in most countries in Latin America. There are two exceptions, Panama and Mexico, where public access legislation has been enacted, although the IAPA has expressed reservations because the laws also contain provisions that could be used to manipulate press freedom.
A fundamental issue, and one of great concern for the Inter American Press Association, is the impunity of those guilty of the 251 murders of journalists in the hemisphere that the IAPA recorded between October 1988 and April 2002. Eight of these murders occurred in the past seven months. The victims were María Teresa Guzmán de Carrasco, executive editor of El Diario, La Paz, Bolivia; Hugo Sandoval, cameraman for RCN TV, Bogotá, Colombia; Jorge Tortoza, photographer for the daily newspaper 2001, Caracas, Venezuela; Juan Carlos Gomez Díaz, an intern at La Voz de Aguachica radio station, Cesar, Colombia; Orlando Sierra, managing editor and reporter of La Patria, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia; Félix Fernández García, editor of Nueva Opcion magazine, Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas state, Mexico; Alvaro Alonso Escobar, owner and reporter of the weekly Region, Fundacion, Magdalena province, Colombia; and Brignol Lindor, editor and reporter of Radio Echo 2000 radio station, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Every murder of a journalist strengthens our resolve to bring the guilty to justice.
The IAPA will not waver in its commitment to continue calling upon the authorities to fulfill their duty to investigate, punish and provide due reparation for these crimes. We are determined to put an end to impunity, and we will continue demanding that, as a matter of principle, crimes against journalists should not be subject to a statute of limitations, that those accused of such offenses be tried under federal jurisdiction in order to ensure speedy and impartial trials, and that international aid organizations and loan agencies regard crimes against journalists and the impunity of the criminals as reasons to consider withholding or suspending aid and loans.
While we urge governments to take concrete action to protect journalists, we stress the need for journalists to have the necessary training to operate in situations of conflict and violence. As part of its Journalists at Risk project, the IAPA will hold a conference in late August in Tijuana, Mexico, for journalists and editors to take part in workshops and training sessions on reporting the news in situations or areas of danger and conflict.
With the objective of extending the dialogue and promoting greater support for press freedom and free speech, the IAPA will host a Hemispheric Conference on Justice and Press Freedom in the Americas in Washington, D.C., from June 20-22 this year. The event will bring together Supreme Court justices from 23 countries in the Western Hemisphere, together with newspaper editors and publishers, reporters, academics, jurists, experts in legislation affecting the press, media groups, human rights organizations, national and international legal advice offices, and representatives of universities and research centers. We regard discussion on the issue of justice and the press by various sectors of civil society to be fundamental to the consolidation of democracy.
Through the observance of compliance or non-compliance with the Declaration of Chapultepec, a document which establishes 10 principles for a free press to be able to carry out its essential role in a democracy, the IAPA is keeping a close watch on efforts to introduce and enact legislation that threatens to set back progress as regards press freedom. Examples of these efforts are the enacting of legislative bills or laws requiring the licensing of journalists and/or the requirement of a university degree to work legally in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Panama, as well as moves in the United States that propose to use the press to misinform, mislead and manipulate information to advance government policies or strategies.
On a positive note, we highlight the fact that some heads of state from the English-speaking Caribbean, such as St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Guyana and Suriname, will sign the Declaration of Chapultepec. These countries will be added to the list of the 23 heads of state that have endorsed the Declaration of Chapultepec in the Americas. Notwithstanding these advancements, we shall continue battling grotesque and subtle threats to press freedom, such as the insult laws still on the books in a number of countries – Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. We will insist on the need for the decriminalization of libel and defamation in all the nations of the hemisphere and the repeal of other arbitrary legal measures. Among these are the imprisonment of journalists and the imposition of excessive fines and damages that put at risk the very existence of news media.
We are also vigilant in regard to other forms of discrimination against the press, as is the case in Argentina, where the news media must bear an excessive tax burden, and in other countries where governments reward or punish media via the discriminatory placement of official advertising and the granting of broadcast licenses.
Our efforts are also aimed at combating another powerful enemy of free speech and press freedom that is becoming more widespread – self-censorship. The climate of violence such as prevails in Colombia and Venezuela or the fear of being sued or subjected to other restrictive legal actions that occur with frequency in Costa Rica and Brazil, are causing members of the press to resort to self-censorship, a situation that curtails freedom of expression.
We will, in addition, continue to motivate journalists to improve their professional skills through our scholarships and the Inter American Press Institute training courses. The one being held in Miami this week in conjunction with the World Bank is designed for economic and financial reporters who cover various aspects of poverty – another burning issue in much of the Americas.
Lack of security, imposition of legal restrictions, violence and murder, along with ineffectual judicial systems and inadequate access to news sources, are some of the many challenges and limitations that reporters and the news media in the Americas face day in and day out. They are the challenges that we must confront to ensure that people are not denied their right to be informed and express their views.
*World Press Freedom Day, celebrated annually on May 3, was established in commemoration of the Declaration of Windhoek, which contains principles for the defense of press freedom. It was drafted in 1991 during a meeting of African journalists sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
For further information, contact Ricardo Trotti or Melba Jimenez at IAPA, Jules Dubois building, 1801 S.W. 3rd Avenue, Miami, Florida 33129 United States, tel: +1 305 634 2465, fax: +1 305 635 2272, email: info@sipiapa.org, rtrotti@sipiapa.org, mjimenez@sipiapa.org, Internet: http://www.sipiapa.org
