It urges authorities to find kidnapped journalist
Miami (April 9, 2014)—At the end of its Midyear Meeting in Barbados the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today expressed “its solidarity with the people of Venezuela, the victims and their families and the news media and journalists beset by violence” and deplored the kidnapping of journalist Nairobi Pinto, whose whereabouts are unknown.
Pinto, chief correspondent of the Globovisión television chain, was abducted on Sunday (April 6) outside the apartment building where she lives by at least two armed and hooded assailants who forced her into a vehicle. So far neither police not her family have received any news.
The IAPA wound up on Monday its Midyear Meeting in Barbados in which a review was carried out of the state of press freedom in the Americas. On the case of Venezuela the organization stressed that “the independent press and journalists are facing their most dramatic moment, marked by a pattern of unprecedented institutional and social violence.” According to local press organizations since the start of protests on February 12 a total of 111 journalists have been arrested, threatened, beaten or injured, in some cases their equipment has been seized and their newsgathering material destroyed.
The chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Claudio Paolillo, declared, “Given the difficult situation of danger and violence being faced by our Venezuelan colleagues the journalist’s disappearance cannot be overlooked. We urge the authorities to make every effort to locate Pinto’s whereabouts.”
Paolillo, editor of the Montevideo, Uruguay, weekly Búsqueda, added that during its April 4-7 meeting in Bridgetown, the IAPA issued country-by-county resolutions on major issues http://www.sipiapa.org/en/asambleas-inform/2014-midyear-meeting-bridgetown/ , among them one on Venezuela which detailed the violations of freedom of the press and of expression in the South American country. Following is the full text:
WHEREAS
the loss of democratic freedoms and fundamental rights in Venezuela under the administration of Nicolás Maduro Moros is evident in the way in which the public demonstrations, and the independent media’s coverage of them, have been repressed as a matter of state policy
WHEREAS
massive, systematic violations of human rights have occurred in Venezuela since the days prior to February 12, 2014, and continue to occur up until today, and protests posing legitimate demands have been treated as criminal acts, with no due process
WHEREAS
by presidential order, with no court approval, the broadcasts of the international television network NTN24 were suspended and CNN journalist Patricia Janot was expelled from the country; both had been documenting the violence caused, under government orders, by the actions of the government’s security forces, the militias of the Bolivarian National Guard, and groups of armed pro-government civilians, which has claimed a heavy toll in numbers of young people killed, injured, tortured, jailed, or subject to judicial measures for the alleged crimes of insurgency or terrorism
WHEREAS
more than 111 journalists and employees from various media outlets, both domestic and foreign, have been victims of this policy of repression; not only have they been arrested for their work or assaulted, but they have lost the implements of their work, which have been taken or destroyed
WHEREAS
the government refuses to provide, or delays providing, the foreign currency that the independent print media needs in order to import newsprint, and a number of newspapers are being forced to suspend circulation or reduce the space they devote to the news, as they are at imminent risk of having to shut down
WHEREAS
the Venezuelan government utilizes undue pressures, threats, and censorship, directly and indirectly, against the independent media, leading a number of journalists and media professionals to resign from their jobs as a way of protesting the censorship that makes it impossible for them to do their work.
THE IAPA MIDYEAR MEETING RESOLVES
to express its solidarity with the people of Venezuela, with the victims and their families, and with the media outlets and journalists affected by the violence of the Venezuelan government, which should be responsible for maintaining and upholding public order in strict observance of human rights and constitutional and international guarantees
to condemn the widespread, systematic violations of human rights by the Venezuelan administration and by the complicity or inaction of other government entities
to salute the international initiatives to involve the good offices or mediation of impartial persons or institutions capable of acting in good faith, such as the Catholic Church
to urge governments in the region and international organizations not to remain indifferent to the severe undermining of democracy and press freedom in Venezuela
to invite the media outlets that are IAPA members to remain alert and inform the public in a timely manner on developments in Venezuela.
The IAPA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 print publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida. For more information please go to http://www.sipiapa.org.
