MIAMI, Florida (June 28, 2010)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA), in conjunction with the international community, today issued a public call on the executive and legislative branches of government in Brazil to move ahead on and enact a bill for constitutional reform that would make cases of the murder of journalists be tried in federal court.
The bill, supported by the IAPA, was introduced in the legislature by Senator Roberto Cavalcanti of the Brazilian Republican Party in Paraiba state, based on proposals and conclusions discussed in the forum titled “Failures and Shortcomings of Justice: How to Prevent Impunity in Crimes Against the Press” held in Rio de Janeiro in May by the IAPA in conjunction with the Brazilian Association of Investigative Reporting (Abraji) and the Catholic Pontifical University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio).
Among other proposals raised at the forum and sent to federal authorities in Brazil it is requested also that offenses against the life and physical integrity of journalists be given priority in being brought to trial; that for now the Federal Police collaborate in the investigations even though the cases concerned are being handled by state judiciaries; that threatened journalists be included in the Human Rights Defenders Protection Program of the Brazilian Presidency’s Human Rights Department, that there be created a legal aid fund to help in the defense of journalists or their families being put on trial or threatened; that there be a review of the parole system which has enabled sentence reduction and consequent fleeing of those jailed for committing crimes against journalists.
In a letter signed by readers of newspapers and magazines throughout the Americas and sent to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and members of Brazil’s legislative branch the need is stressed for this amendment to be passed so that such crimes will be made federal offenses.
The IAPA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 print publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida. The IAPA Impunity Project, is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and has the mission of combating violence against journalists and lessening the impunity surrounding the majority of such crimes. http://www.sipiapa.org; http://www.impunidad.com
