OAS Media Guardian Issues New Report on The Americas

<a href=usinfo.state.gov>Washington File 03 April 2003

(Says assassination of journalists remains serious problem in hemisphere) (620)

Washington -- The assassination of journalists continues to represent a serious problem for freedom of expression and information in the Americas, says a human rights officer for the Organization of American States (OAS).

Eduardo Bertoni, whose title is Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, said in a report released April 2 that assassinating journalists violates the right to life and "leaves all other social communicators in a state of extreme risk and vulnerability."

Bertoni said that "sadly," many of the crimes against journalists go unpunished. Freedom of expression, he continued, "is one of democracy's most cherished rights. Yet practices unfortunately exist in the hemisphere that seek to restrict it."

During 2002, Bertoni said 10 media workers were assassinated in OAS member states while they were exercising their professional duties. In addition, Bertoni said the "arbitrary use of criminal slander and libel charges to stifle criticism of civil servants continued and scant progress was noted regarding the promulgation of laws to protect the right of access to information, a matter vital to transparency in public affairs."

Bertoni's findings follow the March 31 release of the U.S. State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2002, which documented that freedom of expression and freedom of the press are being restricted in such countries as Cuba, Venezuela, and Haiti.

In Cuba, for example, the State Department said the regime of Fidel Castro continued to harass, threaten, arbitrarily arrest, detain, imprison, and defame journalists and other members of independent professional associations. It also said Cuba limited the distribution of foreign publications and news, and maintained strict censorship of news and information to the public.

In Venezuela, the Department said press freedom "deteriorated significantly" during 2002 and that violence and threats of violence against the media increased markedly, as did government intimidation. As a result, self-censorship by the Venezuelan media was thought to be widespread.

Intimidation of journalists also continued to be a problem in Haiti. The Department reported attacks on journalists by supporters of the Haitian government, and that the country's legal system provided limited protection or redress. Journalists were accused of destabilizing the government and often subjected to anonymous threats of kidnapping and murder, while police and government officials often failed to protect journalists during civil unrest. The Department pointed out that the OAS said the "murder of journalists in Haiti, along with a large number of complaints regarding harassment and threats against journalists, the media, and other social communicators, have created an unfavorable environment for freedom of expression."

Bertoni, the OAS special rapporteur, praised those countries which have provided financial backing and other support to strengthen his office's activities --a list which includes the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, and Sweden. Such backing, he said, is "indispensable" to the office's "proper functioning and execution of mandated activities."

The official concluded in his report that freedom of expression remains restricted in many countries of the region. Democracy, he said, "demands a sweeping freedom of expression, which cannot take root under the shadow of state mechanisms still in place to curb its unfettered exercise."

To improve the situation, Bertoni recommended that assassinations, kidnappings, threats, and intimidation against social communicators be investigated. He also called for revoking laws concerning criminal contempt, defamation, libel, and slander, and the passing of legislation to allow for access to information.

Bertoni congratulated journalists, social spokesmen, and defenders of human rights, among others, who have "demonstrated courage and determination in their struggle not to be muzzled in the exercise of this most fundamental right" to freedom of expression.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: usinfo.state.gov)

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