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Alert

Government downgrades importance of scrapping insult laws

(PERIODISTAS/IFEX) - On 7 March 2003, the Chilean press learned that the government had not renewed the "urgent" classification for the proposed law that would put an end to the country's insult laws. The law was sent to Parliament by President Lagos in August 2002. The insult laws provide high officials with greater protection from having their "honour insulted" than the rest of the population enjoys, which puts the laws at odds with international freedom of expression agreements.


The "urgent" classification, which gave the initiative priority over other proposed laws, was necessary, according to the president, because "there is no doubt that the persistence of these laws in Chile has become an unfounded privilege for certain people," and their repeal represented "a necessity for the consolidation of our democratic system."

Six months after these declarations, the executive appears to have changed its priorities, since it did not renew the proposal's "urgency" for the 2003 parliamentary period. As long as the reform is postponed, Articles 263, 264 and 265 of the Penal Code and Articles 276, 284, 416 and 417 of the Military Justice Code will remain in effect. On the basis of Article 263, commentator Eduardo Yáñez, of the Chilevisión television programme "El Termómetro", was recently given a 61-day suspended prison sentence (see IFEX alert of 5 February 2003).

The College of Journalists (Colegio de Periodistas) believes the government's decision demonstrates that there is no will to eliminate the privileges that some 350 people enjoy, while the National Press Association (Asociación Nacional de la Prensa) stated that it would be useful to clarify who is stalling an initiative that supposedly was supported by all sectors.

Recommended Action

Send appeals to authorities:
- asking that the "urgent" classification be returned to the proposed law that would eliminate insult laws
- pointing out that international human rights agreements and conventions consider laws of this sort to be a restriction on freedom of expression, inadmissible in a democracy

Appeals To

Ricardo Lagos
President of Chile
Santiago, Chile
Fax: +562 690 4020

Ministry of the Secretary General
La Moneda Palace
Santiago, Chile
Fax: +56 2 699 1657 / +56 2 690 4086

Please copy appeals to the source if possible.

For further information, contact Mabel Moralejo Martín at PERIODISTAS, Piedras 1675, Oficina "B", Buenos Aires, Argentina, tel: +54 11 4300 6149/4300 9127, fax: +54 11 4300 6149, e-mail: periodistas@asociacionperiodistas.org, Internet: http://www.asociacionperiodistas.org