Brazil

WHEREAS Brazilian courts have repeatedly ruled in favor of interests dissatisfied with actions of the media and imposed censorship, including prior censorship WHEREAS this practice violates the Brazilian constitution and threatens press freedom WHEREAS the Regional Electoral Court of Brasilia, Federal District, made an extremely serious ruling that gave a court official permission to “proceed with the forcible entry and search of Correio Braziliense” to prevent the publication of news about a candidate WHEREAS the court official, inappropriately accompanied by the lawyer of the interested party, became a censor, examining the October 24, 2002 edition page by page WHEREAS this represented a return to prior censorship in a newspaper’s newsroom, which has not occurred since the military regime of the ’60s and ’70s WHEREAS this incident is similar to others in which there have been continuous demonstrations of the judiciary’s failure to understand press freedom WHEREAS the High Electoral Court has overturned the earlier ruling against Correio Braziliense WHEREAS Principle 5 of the Declaration of Chapultepec declares that “Prior censorship, restrictions on the circulation of the media or dissemination of their reports, forced publication of information, the imposition of obstacles to the free flow of news, and restrictions on the activities and movements of journalists directly contradict freedom of the press” THE IAPA GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLVES to vigorously protest what it considers a serious threat to press freedom and to inform the Brazilian authorities of its position.