Internal conflicts, bitter political struggles, fragile economies, fears of terrorism and - in Cuba and Venezuela - outright repression or threats of it, have taken a toll on press freedoms throughout the hemisphere. The dangers confronting press freedom seem to be increasing in most countries of the hemisphere. The right of citizens to seek and disseminate information, to express their opinions and freely debate their agreements and disagreements is being restricted, which is gradually subtly impoverishing our democracies.
Press freedoms also experienced chills in countries with exemplary histories. Tough economic climates - devalued currencies compounded by high taxes and regulatory targeting - constrained the abilities of some news organizations to operate as freely as they might. And fears of terrorism have restricted media access to information in the United States and other countries.
Following are the main ways these restrictions on the press appear.
Violence against journalists
The most serious expression of the battering of the press is the murder of journalists. Since our assembly in Chicago six months ago, seven more have died, in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru. Almost all were killed for motives clearly connected to their profession.
Investigative reporters and outspoken radio and television commentators continue to be the main targets of assassination by outlaws in some countries, notably Colombia and Haiti. But in a disturbing, emerging trend, journalists going about the ordinary business of covering news also appeared to be frequent targets of police or partisan gangs backing the government. In recent weeks, reporters in Venezuela and in Haiti were injured or killed while covering peaceful demonstrations that were broken up by police forces apparently acting on government orders.
Just as disturbing is the fact that most of these murders have not been solved and the murderers enjoy impunity. It would seem that the authorities are not always moved by these tragic crimes, which may give the perpetrators the idea that it is easy to attack journalists, thus increasing the danger of new offenses.
In less extreme cases, physical attacks and intimidation occur in many countries, such as Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador and Honduras.
Encouraged by President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and recently ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Haiti, police and armed gangs have been responsible for attacks on several journalists in recent weeks, including, in Haiti, those from foreign countries. And in Colombia, in addition to murders related to the drug-financed guerrilla war, two journalists have been murdered in the past six months after exposing corruption among government officials.
In some countries an apparent calm hides serious threats against journalists on very diverse fronts, ranking from drug traffickers and their criminal organizations to judges and even governing officials, as has occurred in Venezuela, Ecuador and Argentina.
Even democratically elected leaders have shown a willingness to issue verbal threats to journalists. From the Argentine presidents office, there have been officials who have made phone calls to pressure journalists and media outlets that criticize the government. And a presidential candidate in El Salvador Shafick Jorge Handal, called journalists "corrupt" and "trash," perhaps foreshadowing repression if he is elected.
Increasingly disturbing is President Chavez's hatred of the free press, which became clear when, in a television address the day after his police attacked several journalists covering anti-government demonstrations, he said on television that the army would shut down Globovisión, an independent channel, "regardless of the cost." (cueste lo que cueste). He has repeatedly vowed to block a national referendum on his presidency and accused the media of fomenting a conspiracy against him. Just as chilling, the Venezuelan Supreme Court issued an opinion declaring "freedom of speech is not an absolute right of human beings."
Detentions and arrests
In Cuba, but also in other countries, such as Venezuela and Chile, journalists have been detained and imprisoned for doing their professional work. These detentions have been based on laws of privacy, security or contempt.
Without question, the repression of free expression is in a separate league in Cuba, where Fidel Castro has showed no change in his determination to prevent independent journalists from operating. The 28 independent journalists who were jailed a year ago remain behind bars some in despicable conditions despite health problems. Incredibly, other brave journalists are filling the void, many of them women, including the wife of poet/journalist Raul Rivero, an IAPA member.
In this area, no other country yet rivals Cuba, which has been called "the largest jail for journalists in the world."
Legal harassment and the threat of new restrictive laws
Despite ongoing efforts by IAPA members, the courts in many countries - even those with otherwise progressive civil rights policies - continue to enforce so-called contempt laws that stifle criticism of public officials. In Chile, a national television station, Chilevisión, and its senior executives, face prison terms and fines for pursuing stories about a judge who had engaged in clandestine sexual conduct while presiding over a controversial pedophilia case. Ironically and insidiously, advocates of these laws often claim to be champions of individual privacy protecting public officials against the media's prying - irrespective of the wrongdoing that the "prying" might uncover. Similar laws remain in effect in many countries, including Panama, Peru, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Honduras.
Other laws obstruct journalists access to public sources. In some countries, such as Chile, El Salvador and Honduras, new barriers to information are being debated. Among the most sweeping may be a "gag law" that would criminalize much investigative reporting in Brazil.
Judges often interpret laws in the strictest possible way, which increases restrictions on the press.
Political struggle and economic crises
It is very difficult for the press to fulfill its role in places where political conflicts are getting worse and internal conflicts increase. The threatening language of political passions is followed by street disorders and violence. In this climate, political forces always accuse the press after attempting to manipulate or silence it. This kind of situation has occurred in several countries. Venezuela is the most obvious because of the intensity and duration of its political crisis, along with Haiti and Bolivia. Although the initial cause may have been political and not directed at the press, these events, so common in our region end up hindering free expression.
In the same way, the news media's ability to operate continues to be constrained by a difficult economic situation in the hemisphere. Currency differences tend to make newsprint and other materials more expensive. And some governments, including Argentina, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, have exacerbated the situation by levying taxes on the media or applying regulations that are costly to comply with.
In the Dominican Republic, two weekly magazines have had to shut down, joining three daily newspapers that fell victim earlier. Meanwhile, the 100-year-old Listín Diario continues to be published under government authority after it was taken over following an assets laundering case last year. The newspaper has enjoyed an edge over rivals by getting government advertising while at the same time it has followed a pro-government editorial policy, raising questions about its independence.
Problems of covering terrorism
Access to information and news events has been negatively affected by the desires of some governments - notably the United States and Canada - to guard against terrorism. In the United States, at least two foreign journalists were detained upon arrival, questioned, and sent back although there was no evidence that they planned to engage in any activity besides reporting. (The IAPA is asking the United States to allow journalists to enter the country without visas.)
And without allowing any press review, a US Army investigation into the killing of two journalists in Baghdad when a tank fired on the Palestine Hotel (home base for many reporters covering the war in Iraq) found no grounds for action. Further, the U.S. government continues to restrict media access to those being held incommunicado at the US Navy base in Guantanamo, Cuba. The question of fair trials is inextricably bound up in the issue of free press.
Positive developments
Not all the news is bad. Most notably, in Mexico and Guatemala, strides have been made toward more open government. Bills pending in the Mexican Congress would require the federal government to immediately take jurisdiction in investigating and prosecuting assaults on journalists. And in Guatemala, a period of anti-press harassment spurred by numerous investigations into government corruption - appears to have ended with the inauguration of President Oscar Berger, who has publicly declared his backing for the Declaration of Chapultepec.
Finally, it has been a great joy for the IAPA that UNESCO named jailed Cuban journalist Raúl Rivero, regional vice chairman for Cuba of this committee, as the winner of its UNESCO Guillermo Cano Freedom of the Press Award, to be given in his name on May 3, World Press Freedom Day
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