Miami (September 23, 2009)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) demanded respect for press freedom and journalists and news media, independent of political ideologies, amidst the political crisis in Honduras as essential measures to guarantee the public’s right to receive information without restrictions or censorship.
The chairman of IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Robert Rivard, said, “Our organization is aware of the tense and critical situation that Honduras is undergoing; while we maintain a distance from the conflicting political ideologies, we call for full respect for the work of the press in order to guarantee the public’s right to know.”
Since the ousted president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, returned to the country on Monday (September 21) and found refuge in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, the political crisis sparked on June 28 following the overthrow of the government has become even more tense. There have been complaints of excessive use of force by the police in the wake of the curfew ordered by the Roberto Micheletti government.
The IAPA has protested limits placed on freedom of the press such as the periodic cutting off of the power supply to Canal 36 and preventing its normal news broadcast, according to the channel’s director, Esdras Amado López. In addition, Radio Globo, which operates in Tegucigalpa, complained that its broadcasts have been jammed since it reported on Zelaya’s return to the country. Both media outlets, critical of the Michiletti government, suffered attacks last month.
Frequent charges by the IAPA in recent months concerning journalists and news media of varying editorial positions in the political conflict are a sign of the restrictive and unstable atmosphere in which the press must attempt to do its job.
Rivard, editor of the San Antonio Express-News, Texas, called for “an end to the unnecessary antagonisms that are being aimed at journalists and news media” – a direct allusion to the description “media terrorism” that President Micheletti called a report that Canal 36 and Radio Globo aired on Monday upon Zelaya’s arrival in the country.
Concluding, the IAPA expressed regret over the self-censorship that the current conflict gives rise to, citing the decision by the executives of Radio Progreso in the city of El Progreso, Yoro province, to not report on current developments out of fear of suffering retaliations from the authorities.
