Costa Rica

Over the course of his term in office, President Oscar Arias has swung in and out of spats with the press, accusing the country’s two major media outlets of pursuing scandals with a Watergate-like ferocity. Due to a crack-down on corruption that started five years ago, Arias (and the administration that preceded him) lost dozens of cabinet members and department heads, because of – in his opinion – lengthy articles in the newspapers or incriminating talk shows. The 69-year-old, second-term president said in a speech on Aug. 27, “The contemporary media does much more: not only do they inform, but they also influence, decisively and always deliberately, people’s political opinion. It does so through its editorial (page), treatment given to the news, and with the inevitable task of selecting the news.” Whether Arias has any intention of taking action on his words and whether he would change the constitution to restrict press freedom has been a lingering question in the country. Arias finishes his term in May of 2010 and so far none of the leading candidates for president have expressed interest in constitutional reform. Aside from an off-beat comment by President Arias, not much has happened relating to press freedom in recent months, said Eduardo Ulibarri, president of the Institute for the Press and Freedom of Expression (IPLEX). No court cases, no real conflicts, no changes to legislation, he said. An eight-year-old media bill continues to languish in the legislative assembly, which – if passed – would increase protection of journalists who are accused of defamation, forcing plaintiffs to demonstrate the journalist behaved with “actual malice” and “reckless disregard.” While a vote was taken to keep it on the legislative agenda, there’s no indication that legislators will take it up soon. Another threat exists -- stemming not from controlling politicians or disparaged officials – but from a sharp increase in organized crime. With a near doubling of murder rates since 2006 and an 800 percent increase in drug-related cases from 1997 to 2007, the country is dealing with a real security problem, which is recognized by the current administration and presidential candidates. Organized crime not only presents a physical threat to journalists, but media outlets may engage in a certain degree of self-censorship to avoid risk, analysts say. Though it has admitted fault, the country continues to not comply with the sentence of the Inter American Court of Human Rights regarding to the case involving Herrera Ulloa, a reporter with La Nación who was convicted of criminal defamation in 1999. Ulloa wrote a series of articles in 1995 alleging corruption by former Costa Rican diplomat Félix Przedborski. He was originally fined 120 days pay, but the Inter American Court of Human Rights overturned the decision in 2004 and ordered the government to pay Ulloa 20,000 dollars in damages, or the equivalent in Costa Rican currency, and 10,000 dollars for legal fees. The court was forced to issue a reminder this year because some lawyer fees continued to go unpaid. Preparing for a presidential election in February, the legislative assembly just completed redrafting the electoral code, eliminating a long-standing law that prohibited drinking on the days preceding an election and opening up voting to citizens living outside of the country. One part of the legislation – that never materialized in the end –mandated the incarceration of editors of media outlets if they published polls in the days prior to the election. Those directors will still be penalized, but not with jail time.