Ecuador

WHEREAS the public manifestations of Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno that "freedom of expression is inseparable from democracy" and that the current law is a "punisher"

WHEREAS the Constitution in force declares communication to be a public service, which breaks with international conventions subscribed to by Ecuador

WHEREAS the Communication Law remains in force and its juridical structure goes against free expression

WHEREAS the government party has announced that it will not repeal the Communication Law in force, but it will give way to legislative treatment of a bill to modify it before March 2018

WHEREAS Principle 5 of the Declaration of Chapultepec establishes "Prior censorship, restrictions on the circulation of the media or dissemination of their reports, forced publication of information, the imposition of obstacles to the free flow of news, and restrictions on the activities and movements of journalists directly contradict freedom of the press"

WHEREAS Principle 10 of the Declaration of Chapultepec establishes "No news medium nor journalist may be punished for publishing the truth or criticizing or denouncing the government"

WHEREAS the Judiciary sentenced in six legal proceedings journalist Freddy Aponte and he lost his citizen's right for having denounced acts of the administrative handling of the Loja municipality

WHEREAS since the start of the government of former President Rafael Correa public media were used to discredit the opposition and the independent press and to justify the disappearance of official advertising in media with an editorial stance different to that of the government party

WHEREAS on October 24 the manager of Public Media announced that the handling of state media shows an accumulated loss of not less than $20 million of money from the public coffers

THE 73rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAPA RESOLVES

to urge the President of Ecuador and of the National Assembly to amend the Constitution to eliminate the figure of communication as "public service"

to ask the President of Ecuador that for the announced amendment of the Communication Law the Inter-American Human Rights System be asked for a consultative opinion

to issue a call for commitment by Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno to amend the current communication law and its regulations, with amendments that include the elimination of the sanctioning body, the Communication Superintendence, the equitable distribution of official advertising and the use of public media

to urge the presidents of the National Court of Justice and the Judicial Council to review the proceedings under which journalist Freddy Aponte has been sentenced

to urge the IAPA General Assembly to authorize the sending of a mission to Ecuador to carry out an evaluation of the process of the legal reforms on freedom of expression and to hold a dialogue with the Ecuadorean government authorities, journalists and social organizations

to urge the government of Ecuador to guarantee an editorial stance in the Public Media with public and not partisan ends, and to guarantee a balanced distribution of official advertising among the privately-owned media

to monitor the elaboration process and democratic debate on the bill to amend the current Communication Law

to urge Ecuador's National Assembly to determine the date on which there will be dealt with the bill to amend the Communication Law and to reform the juridical framework in order to guarantee protection of the rights to freedom of expression and of the press.