26 May 2004
COMMUNITY BROADCASTERS WIN LEGAL RECOGNITION
In what is being hailed as a precedent setting move in Latin America, Bolivian president Carlos D. Mesa Gisbert has signed a decree on broadcasting that paves the way for legal recognition of community radio stations, reports the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC).
Under the Decree on Community-Based Radio Broadcasting, community radio stations in Bolivia are given full access to the country's airwaves, including the ability to advertise.
For the past two years, AMARC's Bolivian chapter has worked with other civil society groups to lobby in support of the decree. It says the decree gives the country's predominantly indigenous and rural communities the ability to operate their own radio and television stations.
AMARC also says the move brings Bolivia one step closer to meeting international standards on free expression, including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights' Declaration of Principles on Free Expression. The declaration, ratified by Bolivia, urges governments to "take into account criteria that provide equal opportunity of access for all individuals" when allocating radio and television broadcast frequencies.
For more information on the decree, contact AMARC at: amarc@amarc.org
Visit these links:
- AMARC: http://www.amarc.org
- Declaration of Principles on Free Expression: http://www.cidh.oas.org/Relatoria/English/Declaration.htm
- ARTICLE 19 Report "Access to the Airwaves": http://www.article19.org/docimages/1289.htm
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