WHEREAS in March there was presented by members of the Fujimora political party the "Bill to protect the population's freedom and rights to information" (PL No. 1026/2016-CR)
WHEREAS the initiative seeks to intimidate the press and restrict the editorial independence of the media in the context of the anti-corruption battle, which is evidenced in Article 1 which says that the object of the law is "to prevent influence in content and editorial stance, among other analogous concepts, as the result of interference in acts of corruption by owners or third parties connected to news media" and that persons investigated by the Attorney General's Office for crimes of corruption and insulting the government shall not be able "to be the chairman or members of the Board of Directors, shareholders, general manager or representative of a news media," extending to "editors, publishers, producers or those in analogous positions whose responsibility has an influence in the editorial stance of a news media"
WHEREAS this bill could turn into a legal instrument for an authoritarian government to accuse, point a finger at and prosecute a reporter or editor of a media outlet with the intent of silencing him or her
WHEREAS it also interferes in the freedom of business and the right to receive and disseminate information and is contrary to the 1985 ruling of the Inter-American Human Rights Court that "to impede the access by any person to the full use of the social news media as a vehicle to express oneself or to transmit information is incompatible with Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights"
WHEREAS in January the Executive Branch approved the legislative decree that "creates the National Transparency and Access to Public Information Authority, strengthens the System of Protection of Personal Data and the regulation of the management of interests"
WHEREAS that National Authority of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights lacks autonomy, function, economic, administrative and financial skills, which limits its ability to act
WHEREAS this constitutes a regression in matters of transparency and access to information and a contribution to the culture of secrecy
WHEREAS the Declaration of Chapultepec in its Principle 3 states "The authorities must be compelled by law to make available in a timely and reasonable manner the information generated by the public sector. No journalist may be forced to reveal his or her sources of information".
THE IAPA MIDYEAR MEETING RESOLVES
to call upon the members of the Constitution and Regulation Commission of the Peruvian Congress, chaired by Fuerza Popular Congressman Miguel Ángel Torres, to table the bill
to urge the Executive Branch to create an entity that has autonomy and competence to classify or reclassify information and grant to the Transparency and Access to Public Information Court the ability to hear all the cases in which there are prosecuted officials or public servants for non-compliance with the Law on Transparency and Access to Public Information.
