PARAGUAY

Press freedom in Paraguay remains in a precarious state due to continual violence and threats against journalists, as well as numerous libel suits against reporters and media outlets. The journalistic community continues to be shaken by the unsolved case of journalist Enrique Galeano, who disappeared on February 4, 2006 in Iby Yaú, a town in Concepción department in northern Paraguay. Press, media and journalists’ organizations have organized public marches to demand that the authorities pursue these investigations. On August 30 the Chamber of Deputies permanently shelved the bill on freedom of information, which contained clauses contrary to freedom of speech. On June 2 the Senate had turned down the bill, considering it unconstitutional. On May 26, a bill was introduced in the Chamber of Deputies to restrict the dissemination of images that, in the opinion of the bill’s authors, might hurt “feelings of piety and respect for those killed, injured, or victimized” in crimes, accidents, and natural disasters. This is supposedly to protect people’s privacy and counter the commercial exploitation of images deemed graphic. The executive branch would be in charge of enforcing the law, and violators would be subject to heavy fines. The IAPA stated its concern over the bill, as it may lead to prior restraint and violate freedom of the press. On June 29, the Center for Justice and International Law filed a complaint with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights against the Paraguayan government for violating freedom of expression by ordering the newspaper ABC Color to pay more than 1.2 billion guaranis (more than US$200.000) to ruling-party senator Juan Carlos Galaverna for alleged libel. Other developments involving freedom of the press during this period: On March 19, Higinio Ruiz Díaz, correspondent for ABC Color in the city of San Antonio, was sued by Gabriel Medina, chairman of the local Sanitation Board. Medina had been questioned about administrative activity that was described as less than transparent. On March 23, photographer Asunción Caballero of Vanguardia newspaper in Ciudad del Este was assaulted by a group of taxi drivers and Ceferino Samudio, liberal candidate for city councilman. Caballero was covering the closure of the Friendship Bridge—which connects Ciudad del Este with Foz de Yguazú in Brazil—by transportation workers. In late May, radio and television journalist Reinaldo Ganoso Conteiro from the Carapeguá area reported to regional prosecutors that he had received death threats. On his programs Gayoso, had repeatedly discussed the alarming pollution problems caused by leather tanning and other local industries. On May 8, the ABC Color correspondent in Curuguaty was acquitted of libel charges brought by timber magnate Milciades Ávila. On May 20, Nicolás Sotelo, a well-known radio journalist in San Juan, Itapúa department, was acquitted. He had been accused of libel by the city’s mayor. In late May, the regional newspaper TN Press in Ciudad del Este came under gunfire. Unknown assailants fired several shots at the front of the building. Days earlier, the newspaper had published documented claims of corruption within the local police force. Several high-ranking police officials lost their jobs as a result of these reports. In early July, Pablo Medina, ABC Color correspondent in Curuguaty and brother of murdered journalist Salvador Medina, was the victim of anonymous telephone calls intended to intimidate him, presumably because the case of his brother’s death may be reopened. On July 5, charges of electoral offenses against news directors at four radio stations—1.000, Cardinal, UNO, and AM 9.70—were dismissed by Judge Oscar Delgado. The court dismissed the criminal charges but ordered the defendants to donate 10 to 12 million guaranis (more than US$2.000.000) in advertising time to charitable organizations. Prosecutors had dropped the case due to a lack of sufficient evidence for criminal prosecution, but the defendants were penalized nonetheless. On July 6,one of the personal guards of the Paraguayan president threatened and insulted La Nación reporter Francisca Pereira when she made her way past the guards and briefly interviewed the president. On July 17, Luis Ruiz Días, a reporter for the weekly newspaper Hechos in the city of Pedro Juan Caballero on the Brazilian border, reported to the authorities that he had received death threats following his reports on leading drug traffickers in the area. On August 6, Governor Roberto Acevedo of Amambay had Luciano Cárdenas and Raúl Ortiz, journalists with the cable television channel Frontera in Pedro Juan Caballero removed from the main government building. The channel had aired criticism against his administration. A court upheld the one-year prison sentence of former ABC Color reporter Enrique Dávalos for libel. The charges had been pressed by fellow journalist Mabel Rehnfeldt, who works at the same newspaper. The case stemmed from a recorded conversation between Dávalos and another person in which it was implied that Rehnfeldt had accepted a bribe. Dávalos has also been ordered to pay some 30 million guaranis (more than US$5.800) in compensation. On August 10, editors Edgardo Wasmosy and Javier Pirovano of the newspaper Popular were acquitted of libel charges pressed by opposition political leader and former general Lino César Oviedo. On August 31, photographer Oscar Florentín of TN Press, a regional newspaper in Ciudad del Este was assaulted by police officers when he tried to photograph a robbery victim. The newspaper La Nación continues to bear the pressure of a lawsuit over a cash prize from a 1996 promotion. In previous court proceedings, it had been proven that the complainant and a computer hacker had attempted to defraud the newspaper. This long-running court case ultimately represents retaliation for reports published by La Nación on corruption among senior officials in the executive and judicial branches. On September 18, journalist Nancy Oviedo of Channel 8 television in Villarrica, Guairá department, reported to prosecutor Carlos Alvarenga that she had received death threats for her reports on a robbery possibly involving a family member of the defendants.