RIGHTS-CENTRAL AMERICA: Jailing of Reporters Curtails Democracy

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Néfer Muñoz

SAN JOSE, May 2 2001 (IPS) - Prison sentences handed down to journalists in connection with their work are curbing the development of democracy in Central America, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, which is commemorated May 3rd.

The Paris-based international watchdog noted that there were still laws on the books in Central America designed to intimidate reporters and encourage self-censorship, even though respect for freedom of expression had improved enormously with respect to the years the region was caught up in civil wars, which came to an end in the 1990s.

Régis Bourgeat, the head of RSF’s Americas desk, told IPS that “the main challenge is to overturn the laws that continue providing for jail sentences for press offences” in Central America, considered one of the most violent and dangerous regions in the world by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

RSF was created in 1985 to defend freedom of the press and the right to be informed, and to protect the rights of journalists throughout the world.

According to the organisation’s press freedom index, which runs from one (correct situation) to six (very serious situation), none of the six countries of Central America ranks worse than three (sensitive situation).

However, that relatively good state of press freedom must be further improved by eliminating laws standing in the way of journalists doing their job, in order to demonstrate that democracy is truly taking root in the subregion, said RSF prior to the celebration of World Press Freedom Day on Thursday.

“Attacks on freedom of the press reveal that this freedom, seen as a central pillar of democratic life, is still not completely respected” in the region, said Bourgeat.

Prison sentences for press offences persist in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.

A report by the United Nations’ special rapporteur for the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and freedom of speech stated in January 2000 that “imprisonment as punishment for the peaceful expression of an opinion constitutes a serious violation of human rights.”

Guatemala and Panama are the countries that set the biggest hurdles in the way of freedom of the press in Central America, according to RSF.

In Guatemala, reporters are harassed for criticising the government of Alfonso Portillo, while Panama still has laws providing for prison sentences for “desacato”, or “insults” and “defamation.”

Bourgeat pointed out to IPS that the newspapers Prensa Libre and El Periódico were on “the front line” in terms of attacks on freedom of speech.

“El Periódico was the victim of several threats in late March, when four of its journalists were persecuted after publishing a report implicating the director of a bank in alleged irregularities,” said the RSF spokesman.

In addition, the building in which the newspaper is located was the target of a Feb 20 attack apparently staged by people close to Communications Minister Luis Rabbé, who was accused of granting public contracts to ghost companies.

Another problem in Guatemala is the existence of a de facto monopoly over television, said Bourgeat. Of the country’s five stations, just one – Channel 5 – is public, while channels 3, 7, 11 and 13 are run by Angel González, Minister Rabbé’s brother-in- law.

With respect to Panama, Bourgeat pointed out that at least four reporters have been handed prison sentences of between 12 and 18 months so far this year.

He expressed concern over the situation in Panama, even though most of the sentences were commuted to fines. “Filing complaints against press workers has become a custom” in Panama, said Bourgeat.

RSF has warned in the past that officials in Panama abuse laws that empower certain representatives of the state to order the imprisonment of any reporter who shows “lack of respect,” without the need for a trial.

Panama’s Attorney-General José Antonio Sossa ordered the imprisonment of Carlos Singares, the editor of the daily El Siglo, for eight days in July 2000.

Sossa complained that the paper had published statements by a lawyer who accused him of paedophilia.

Singares appealed to the Supreme Court, which ruled that the jail sentence was “constitutional” under the terms of article 33 of the constitution, which states that government officials “may sanction [with fines or prison sentences] insults or lack of respect without a court ruling.”

Bourgeat said the large number of complaints filed by the attorney-general had made him the media’s “bête noire”.

The RSF spokesman called on the governments of Central America to overturn all “gagging laws” against journalists, which contravene the declaration of principles on freedom of expression adopted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Principle 11 of that declaration states that “public officials are subject to greater scrutiny by society. Laws that penalise offensive expressions directed at public officials, generally known as ‘desacato laws,’ restrict freedom of expression and the right to information.”