5 November 2002

FILM CENSORSHIP ABOLISHED / WPFC, HRW URGE ELIMINATION OF "DESACATO" LAWS


For the first time in 10 years, Chileans will be able to see more than 1,000 films that had previously been banned following Senate approval of a new law abolishing film censorship, reports PERIODISTAS (la Asociacion para la Defensa del Periodismo Independiente).

On 30 October, Chile's Senate passed a bill that strips the Film Ratings Council (Consejo de Calificacion Cinematográfica, CCC) of powers to ban the screening of films considered "immoral, unethical, an affront to public order, and promote antisocial or criminal activity," PERIODISTAS says.

Until now, the CCC had been influenced by members of the judiciary and armed forces who sat on the council. The new law prohibits them from sitting on the regulatory body. A new ratings system with three categories will also be established.

The passage of the new law comes as the Chilean Chamber of Deputies debates another bill calling for the elimination of seven laws which shield government officials from public criticism. These "desacato," or insult, laws are a throwback to colonial or autocratic times and unjustly protect 350 public officials from the scrutiny of Chileans, says the World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC). WPFC, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and other groups have been urging the Chilean Congress to repeal the laws.

Though the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights declared in 1994 that desacato laws violated the American Convention on Human Rights, only two Latin American countries - Paraguay and Costa Rica - have followed its recommendation, WPFC notes.

For more information on WPFC's campaign on desacato laws, see www.wpfc.org or contact Executive Director Marilyn Greene at mgreene@wpfc.org. ">http://www.wpfc.org">www.wpfc.org or contact Executive Director Marilyn Greene at mgreene@wpfc.org.

Visit these links:

- PERIODISTAS: www.asociacionperiodistas.org">http://www.asociacionperiodistas.org">www.asociacionperiodistas.org

- HRW Report on Film Censorship in Chile: www.hrw.org/reports98/chile">http://www.hrw.org/reports98/chile/Chilerpt-06.htm">www.hrw.org/reports98/chile

- HRW on Chile's Desacato Laws: www.hrw.org">http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/10/chile1015.htm">www.hrw.org

- CPJ's Legal Resources for Latin American Journalists: www.cpj.org">http://www.cpj.org/defamation/defamation.html">www.cpj.org

- Inter American Press Association's Press Laws Database: www.sipiapa.com">http://www.sipiapa.com/projects/chapul-presslaws.cfm">www.sipiapa.com

- Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: www.cidh.oas.org">http://www.cidh.oas.org/what.htm">www.cidh.oas.org

- American Convention on Human Rights: www1.umn.edu/humanrts/oasinstr/zoas3con.htm">http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/oasinstr/zoas3con.htm">www1.umn.edu/humanrts/oasinstr/zoas3con.htm



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Also from the Communiqué, 5 November 2002

INTERNATIONAL: UNESCO TO HOLD SYMPOSIUM ON INTERNET FREE EXPRESSION 5 November 2002 INTERNATIONAL: DANIEL PEARL FELLOWSHIP LAUNCHED 5 November 2002 INTERNATIONAL: IPI TO MARK FIRST TEN YEARS IN VIENNA 5 November 2002 INTERNATIONAL: AMARC POSTPONES WORLD CONFERENCE 5 November 2002 INTERNATIONAL: CASCFEN TO HOLD FIRST CONFERENCE IN MARCH 2003 5 November 2002 LIBERIA: IMPRISONED JOURNALIST MAY BE RELEASED 5 November 2002 UNITED STATES: CONGRESS TABLES INTERNET FREEDOM BILL 5 November 2002 NAMIBIA: SHADES OF MUGABE AS JOURNALISTS FEAR LOSS OF MEDIA FREEDOMS 5 November 2002 INTERNATIONAL: HIGHLIGHTS IMPUNITY AND PRESS-FREEDOM ATTACKS IN THE AMERICAS 5 November 2002

Chile

Government scraps plan to force journalists to inform police 24 January 2012 Community media under attack 29 November 2011 Three news websites hacked, newspaper publisher bombed 11 November 2011 More media freedom violations feared as protests continue 19 October 2011 Bill would criminalise protests, turn journalists into police informers 11 October 2011 See all alerts: Chile


South America

ECUADOR: Local media team banned from covering referendum vote counting 9 February 2012 ECUADOR: Fundamedios and AEDEP challenge constitutionality of amendments to Democracy Code 9 February 2012 VENEZUELA: Journalists attacked by men at funeral 8 February 2012 ECUADOR: Fundamedios condemns million-dollar fines against journalists Calderón and Zurita 8 February 2012


 
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