Contempt Laws

CONTEMPT LAWS Resolution of the Midyear Meeting Caracas, Venezuela March 28 - 30, 2008 WHEREAS In Uruguay on Oct. 23, a panel of experts submitted to the government through the vice minister of education and culture a bill proposing to abolish desacato (insult) laws and to modify the penalties in cases of libel, but the executive branch has not commented on the proposal nor presented it to legislators for consideration WHEREAS In Ecuador, the state must decide by May 10 whether to prosecute or dismiss an insult complaint by President Rafael Correa against the director of the Quito newspaper La Hora WHEREAS Throughout the Americas in the past 10 years, various countries—Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama and Peru—have prohibited, eliminated or partially eliminated insult laws that provide criminal punishment for criticism of high government officials WHEREAS The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights determined in its 1995 report that insult laws were not compatible with Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights because they lend themselves “to abuse, as a means to silence unpopular ideas and opinions, thereby repressing the debate that is critical to the effective functioning of democratic institutions,” and also determined that those who seek elective office in a democracy open themselves to a greater degree of public scrutiny than private citizens; and WHEREAS Principle 10 of the Declaration of Chapultapec provides that “No news media nor journalist may be punished for publishing the truth or criticizing or denouncing the government;” THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES To call upon the president of the Republic of Uruguay and his minister of education and culture to publicly state their support for the repeal of the country’s insult law and to submit to the legislature a bill to eliminate such laws and remove the penalties for other offenses against honor To call upon President Correa of Ecuador to drop his insult complaint against La Hora and furthermore to propose the elimination of insult laws and penalties for such offenses To call upon nations that have not eliminated insult offenses to immediately initiate legislative actions to broaden democratic principles accordingly, as is happening elsewhere in the hemisphere, in order to reinforce the principles of freedom of expression