Ecuador

WHEREAS during the last six months the five branches of government have taken decisions that negatively affect freedom of expression WHEREAS the Constitutional Court, despite the fact it is now dealing with requests that the Democracy Code be declared unconstitutional, lifted the precautionary measures previously issued, thus leaving in effect the ban on disseminating reports that could benefit or harm candidates to positions in elections by the people WHEREAS the Organization of American States (OAS) accepted the proposal of the Ecuadorean government to reform the inter-American system of defense of human rights WHEREASthe digital era generates juridical uncertainty about the legal responsibility of content THE 68th IAPA GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLVES to ask each of the heads of the five branches of government of Ecuador that at the time of taking decisions to respect what is stipulated in the Inter-American Democratic Charter and in Ecuador’s Constitution to ask the Constitutional Court to move ahead with the requests for declaration of unconstitutionality raised against the Democracy Code, so that in this way it will not be prohibited to disseminate information that can positively or negatively affect candidates for positions in elections by the people to call on IAPA members to conduct an information campaign that explains to the Americas the possible reforms that there will be in the inter-American human rights defense system and the consequences that this will being for the people to have a special mission to the OAS to set out the IAPA’s position and request in the face of possible reforms to the inter-American human rights defense system to head a hemisphere-wide campaign with the objective of drafting the principles that should govern the free flow of information and expression in the digital era.