By Thelma Mejía
TEGUCIGALPA, Apr 1 1997 (IPS)

A “gag law” against the press approved by the Honduran Congress evokes memories of the 1933-49 dictatorship of General Tiburcio Carias Andino.

Under the slogan “burial, lock-up, exile,” the de facto regime cracked down hard on the press and other sectors. Many Hondurans were forced into exile – including current President Carlos Roberto Reina.

Drastic reforms of the penal code approved by Congress in February, including a ban on “unauthorised” protests, hark back to that episode in Honduran history.

The Civic Front – an umbrella organisation drawing together members of civil society and business groups – has denounced the “hidden clauses” of the new code.

The new laws stipulate two to eight years in prison, without possibilities of bail, for those found guilty of libel and slander. Owners, directors and mid-level managers of media organs who violate the “Law on Emission of Thought” by failing to publish explanations, denials, rebuttals or clarifications formulated by the affected parties by the set deadline will now face a 3,000 dollar fine.

The local media is up in arms over the reforms, terming them an attack on freedom of the press and an effort to raise a protective barrier around public functionaries.

‘Diario Tiempo’, the daily of the northern city of San Pedro Sula, denounced the “gag law” as an attempt to silence press reports on corruption in both the public and private spheres.

Deputy Andres Torres, a journalist, agreed that the reforms should be reviewed.

“We cannot say anything now, point out errors, because we run the risk of going to prison,” Alba de Mejia, with the Visitacion Padilla Women’s Movement for Peace, told IPS. The new code makes it necessary to request permission before protesting, she added.

“It seems there are groups interested in silencing civil society,” Mejia charged.

Danillo Arbilla, president of the Inter-American Press Society’s Commission on Freedom of the Press, on a visit to Tegucigalpa from his native Uruguay, said the new laws hurt the press and were an assault on democracy.

Penalties for libel and slander “are blatantly directed against freedom of the press,” stressed Arbilla, director of the prestigious Montevideo weekly ‘Busqueda’. “Countries with modern legal systems are leaving behind such practices.”

The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Honduras issued a communique stating that the penal reforms were the result of excessive authority exercised by the legislature.

The Honduran Press Association has not yet pronounced itself on the “gag law.”

The speaker of Congress, Carlos Flores, one of the governing Liberal Party’s possible presidential candidates for the next elections, indicated a willingness to review the new laws, acknowledging that gaps did exist.

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