PERU

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PERU WHEREAS an indispensable requirement for democracy is the full exercise of press freedom WHEREAS one cannot speak of free elections if voters lack all necessary information and access to all kinds of news organizations and sources WHEREAS the exercise of press freedom is closely linked to the guarantee of a judicial system which is autonomous, independent and worthy of trust WHEREAS the integrity of the judicial branch has come under question through prior actions through which the government has seized a television channel as well as interfered and intervened in the management of various news organizations and constantly assaulted independent journalism WHEREAS on top of these hostile measures executed against the independent media through the judicial branch, intelligence services participate in coercion, iincluding direct threats and the use of sensationalist media as an instrument for reprehensible acts WHEREAS Lima’s El Comercio newspaper has been now chosen as the focus of attacks by the Peruvian government WHEREAS the policy of harassment and hounding of the press and independent journalists has been accentuated with the upcoming elections in Peru, in which the president is running for re-election THE IAPA EXECUTIVE BOARD RESOLVES to declare that the persecutory measures and acts of harassment against the independent press, combined with the seizure of news organizations from their legitimate owners, questions the legitimacy of the upcoming presidential elections to urge and demand that President Alberto Fujimori’s government, as well as the presidents of the Supreme Court and Congress prevent any message leading to political acts, judicial manipulations and any assaults on news organizations to demand the government restore Canal 2 television, Red Global de Television and Radio 1160 to their legitimate owners, for which the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has issued protective resolutions to warn of the grave responsibility borne by the judicial system’s judges and prosecutors, if they stray from the state of law in a judicial controversy and compromise their independence by becoming accomplices in any action which could affect the property and in particular the editorial independence of El Comercio with the essential aim of destabilizing this newspaper enrust the IAPA presidency that, once the circumstances merit, immediately designate missions to act, demand and report on the problems of the press and the constant attacks on freedom of expression in all its forms in Peru. These commissions should visit Peru; Costa Rica (the site of the Inter-American Human Rights Court); Washington (the headquarters of the Secretariat of the Organization of American State, Inter-American Human Rights Commission, the OAS’ Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, the Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank) and New York (the base of the special commissioner of Freedom of Expression and Human Rights of the United Nations). Likewise, there should be coordination within the framework of the World Committee on Press Freedom, which encompasses organizations which defend press freedom around the world as well sending missions to European Union authorities and U.N. offices based in Geneva.

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