El Salvador

WHEREAS El Salvador has been an exemplary country in terms of freedom of expression and the press on the continent in recent years WHEREAS the latest reforms of article 38 of the penal code favor free citizen expression, having as their essential point the suppression of the penalty of incarceration for the crimes of slander, defamation, and libel WHEREAS the President of the Republic Mauricio Funes has followed the law in detail, but he respects the essence of the reform, of eliminating the penalty of deprivation of freedom WHEREAS so long as these measures are have not been adopted or strengthened by the parliament, they do not become the law of the land, and as a result, those who practice journalism will continue to face the danger of being convicted to prison WHEREAS Principle 10 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states that “No news medium nor journalist may be punished for publishing the truth or criticizing or denouncing the government”. ”THE 67 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAPA RESOLVES to exhort lawmakers to study the comments presented by the President of the Republic , and make an early decision about them in order to put behind this legal vacuum that so threatens those who practice journalism in El Salvador.