Ecuador

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WHEREAS Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa Delgado accused the press in his message to the nation on August 10 of being his greatest political adversary and has conducted a consistent campaign of attacks against independent journalists and media outlets WHEREAS proposed bills for a new Communications Law that would restrict citizens´ freedom of information are being debated in the National Assembly WHEREAS the IAPA mission to Ecuador on October 19 concluded that the bill presented by a government party legislator is ““restrictive, will generate governmental censorship, will encourage self-censorship and will limit investigative reporting, perverting the role of the press in a democracy” IAPA GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLVES to reiterate its concern at the worsening of the official climate because of government attacks on press freedom in Ecuador to condemn harassment of and verbal violence to independent journalists and news media to insist to members of the National Assembly of Ecuador that in any new laws they approve in compliance with the Political Constitution, unrestricted respect for freedom of expression, freedom of press and freedom of access to information prevail consistent with the Political Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations and the American Convention on Human Rights (Pact of San Jose), all signed by Ecuador to demand that the police and authorities in general guarantee the unfettered and normal work of the press in covering news events and developments of importance to the public to remind the Ecuadorean government of its commitment not to use the confiscated news media politically and to demand that it speed up the relevant legal proceedings so that confiscated media be put up for auction according to the law.

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