VENEZUELA
WHEREAS
the human rights subcommittee presented to the National Constituent Assembly a bill on freedom of expression that would have a constitutional standing and would establish "the right to timely, accurate and impartial information" the concept of "accurate information' would give the government of the moment the power to decide which is the only truth to be disseminated the bill grants equal standing to the right of reply, a principle that restricts the free exercise of journalism the bill also provides for the establishment of a consumer advocate for the media, who in practice
would be an omnipotent regulator of accuracy, timeliness and impartiality of news and opinion as well as the arbiter of the right of reply if these constitutional provisions are approved, the right of the free citizen to receive, gather or disseminate information or opinion, as set forth in the Pact of San Jose, Costa Rica, would be abolished and, instead, they would establish de jure that the print or broadcast media can be censored under any circumstance or by any whim of the government Principle 5 of the Declaration of Chapultepec rejects Prior censorship, forced publication of information such as the right of reply, and the imposition of obstacles to the free flow of news the principles that would be imposed in the new Constitution violate the American Convention on Human Rights which guarantees the citizens of signatory countries free and unlimited access to all kinds of information and would endanger the rule of law in Venezuela
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAPA RESOLVES
to call upon the chairman of the Constituent Assembly of Venezuela to urge the members of this
constitutional body to reject completely the proposal of the human rights subcommittee as it relates to the practice of freedom of expression for the sake of the rule of law and freedom of expression in Venezuela.
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Madrid, Spain