By IPS Correspondents
WASHINGTON, Jul 1 2003 (IPS)

Continuing violence against journalists in Venezuela is threatening the right of freedom of expression in the South American country, Human Rights Watch said today.

Repeated assaults on reporters, along with the ongoing investigation of the four leading television stations in the country and the proposal of a new media law by Pres. Hugo Chavez’s government, run the risk of significantly eroding press freedom and violating international standards of free expression, the group says.

"Human Rights Watch (HRW) is concerned that many journalists working for media that support the opposition have been victims of aggression and intimidation by your government’s supporters," wrote Jose Miguel Vivanco, executive director of HRW’s Americas division, in a letter to the Venezuelan president on Tuesday.

In a 20-page report titled "Caught in the Crossfire: Freedom of Expression in Venezuela", the watchdog group raises concerns about the security of journalists working in the country.

Though there are few obvious limits on free expression in Venezuela, journalists face constant physical risks, the report states.

HRW estimates there were at least 130 assaults and threats of physical harm to journalists and press property between the beginning of 2002 and February 2003, when an open-ended national strike against the government of Pres. Chavez was called off.

"This week, there was again an incident in Venezuela where a journalist was seriously attacked," Vivanco said in an interview on Tuesday.

Given the current polarised atmosphere in the country, the aggressive tone portrayed in Pres. Chavez’s speeches has contributed to the violence against the press, critics say.

The president has a right to respond to his critics but he should equally condemn physical aggression against them, HRW says.

"President Chavez should state, in unequivocal terms, that his criticism of the press is not meant to justify physical attacks by his supporters against the press or the opposition. He should make a public commitment to ensure that those responsible for these abuses will be held accountable," the report states.

According to the report, press workers cannot necessarily rely on the police to protect them from attacks, and those who suffer assaults rarely obtain redress from the Venezuelan criminal justice system.

"Cumulatively, the failure to investigate contributes to an atmosphere of lawlessness that inhibits journalism and ultimately affects the public’s right to be informed," according to the report’s author Sebastian Brett, senior researcher for HRW’s Americas Division.

Currently, the country’s four largest private television networks are under investigation for violating broadcasting regulations, causing further concern about the right of freedom of expression.

"We fear that the investigations currently underway are an attempt to create a climate of self-censorship," said Vivanco at a press conference on Tuesday.

In addition, the introduction of a new media bill by the Chavez government will – if implemented – enlarge the state’s role in controlling broadcast content and will infringe international freedom of expression standards, according to the report.

"The lack of safeguards against political interference in the body responsible for investigating infractions of broadcasting laws and imposing penalties on media is especially troubling given the complexity of the legislation it is supposed to enforce, and the imprecision of the numerous regulations with which companies, broadcasters and advertisers are required to comply," the report states.

Since President Chavez was elected in 1998, opponents have viewed his constitutional reforms and attempts to curtail media rights as antidemocratic measures and accuse him of having autocratic leanings.

The constitutional reform approved in 1999 did away with a 40-year-old constitution which had generated enough political stability to guarantee the transfer of power to nine elected presidents. The new constitution ended up tying power to the presidency and removed most checks and balances.

While the situation in the country has grown more and more polarised, attacks on opposition journalists by supporters of the president increased sharply. A number of opposition supporters, in turn, targeted public and community media that supported the president.

In this highly politicised environment, "journalists are not attacked for simply doing journalism, rather they are attacked for being foot-soldiers in the media war supposedly being waged by their bosses against President Chavez," the report says.

"The same is true of reporters for state media and community radio and television stations, who are seen as pro-Chavez political activists first, reporters second. Respect for journalists as purveyors of accurate information to the public has been one of the first casualties of the current political polarization."

While news coverage by both private and public media in Venezuela cannot be considered objective, actions by the Chavez government mark a serious limitation on press freedom.

"It is important to note that the media in Venezuela is not objective, especially the broadcasting media. The private media is firmly against the government. Despite these attacks, however, a democratic state has to make sure that all media is entitled to exercise its right to freedom of expression," Vivanco told IPS on Tuesday. "It is the task of the public and not the government to decide what is true and what its people will believe."

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