(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 23 June 2000 RSF press release: OAS delegation visit from 26 to 27 June Reporters sans Frontières calls on the OAS delegation to demand that the Peruvian government guarantee the independence of the courts In a letter to Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy and Organisation of American States’ (OAS) […]
(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 23 June 2000 RSF press release:
OAS delegation visit from 26 to 27 June
Reporters sans Frontières calls on the OAS delegation to demand that the Peruvian government guarantee the independence of the courts
In a letter to Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy and Organisation of American States’ (OAS) Secretary Cesar Gaviria, who are leading the OAS delegation due to arrive in Lima on 26 June, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) expressed “serious concern” about repeated violations of press freedom in Peru.
“Strengthening press freedom” is one of the purposes of the visit. RSF therefore asked Lloyd Axworthy and Cesar Gaviria to demand that the Peruvian authorities start an inquiry “into the responsibility of the National Intelligence Service [SIN, Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional – Peru’s intelligence agency] for attacks and threats against about 15 investigative reporters over the past three years” and that they then publish the findings of the inquiry. RSF also asked the delegation to ensure that the Peruvian state guarantee “the independence of the judiciary from the executive, particularly by dropping the system of temporary judges, which enables the government to put pressure on media that are critical of it.”
Reporters sans Frontières reminded the OAS that during the past three years, numerous attacks on press freedom have been blamed on the SIN, including phone-tapping, death threats, assaults and torture. In June 1998, Alberto Fujimori promised to launch investigations into the various cases, but the findings have never been made public. The pressure on journalists is continuing. On 8 June 2000, Monica Vecco, of La República, received threats after the publication of a report accusing Peru 2000, the coalition that supported Alberto Fujimori as a candidate in the recent presidential election, of using the SIN’s premises to publish electoral propaganda.
RSF has also condemned the government-controlled system of “temporary judges”, introduced in 1992, which enables the executive to sack judges in order to put pressure on media that are critical of the authorities. In September 1997, a Lima high court ruling stripped Baruch Ivcher, the majority shareholder in Frecuencia Latina, of his rights regarding the TV channel after he made allegations against the SIN in news coverage. Since then, Frecuencia Latina has adopted a pro-government line. Of the seven broadcast channels now operating in Peru, three are run by people appointed by the judiciary and a fourth is currently facing trial. When legal proceedings are started against the media, even by a private individual, the government can influence the verdict through the “temporary judges” system. And it is not only broadcasters that are affected. In March 2000 it was the turn of the daily El Comercio to be prosecuted after the newspaper revealed that about half the two million signatures collected in support of Alberto Fujimori’s bid for the presidency were forgeries. Although a judge has ruled that the case should not be followed up on, it is still going ahead.
The situation is even more worrying because Peruvian citizens have been deprived of the right to appeal to international courts since 9 July 1999, when the Fujimori government decided to no longer recognise the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The decision, which the court described as “unacceptable”, came as it was about to examine the complaint filed by Baruch Ivcher against the Peruvian state.
