8 February 2006
SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN INSULT LAWS
Guatemela's highest court has ruled that laws criminalising expression considered offensive to public officials are unconstitutional and an affront to freedom of expression, a move hailed by IFEX members.
On 3 February 2006, the Constitutional Court repealed articles 411, 412, and 413 of the penal code - commonly known as "desacato" or "insult" provisions - under which anyone found guilty of offending government or other public officials could be jailed for between six months and three years.
The court ruled on a petition filed in June 2005 by Mario Fuentes Destarac, president of the Guatemalan Chamber of Journalism, who challenged the constitutionality of the provisions.
In explaining its decision, the court cited principles established in the Guatemalan Constitution, the American Convention on Human Rights, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights' (IACHR) Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression.
The ruling has been praised by the Association of Guatemalan Journalists (Asociación de Periodistas de Guatemala, APG), CERIGUA, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists.
APG spokesperson Mario Domínguez said journalists and media outlets must now work to strengthen journalistic ethics so that the right to criticise public officials will not be abused.
The IACHR's Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, Eduardo Bertoni, also hailed the ruling, calling it a decisive step towards strengthening free expression in Guatemala.
RSF notes that Guatemala is the sixth Latin American country to decriminalise "desacato" laws, following the example of Honduras, Costa Rica, Peru, Argentina and Paraguay.
Visit these links:
- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/americas/guatemala03feb06na.html
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=16360
- CERIGUA: http://tinyurl.com/cs8f8
- IAPA: http://www.sipiapa.org/
- Human Rights Watch Report on Guatemala: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/18/guatem12208.htm
- IACHR Rapporteur on Free Expression:
http://www.cidh.org/Relatoria/showarticle.asp?artID=652&lID=1
- IACHR Declaration of Principles on Free Expression: http://www.cidh.oas.org/Basicos/principles.htm
- American Convention on Human Rights:
http://www.cidh.org/Relatoria/showarticle.asp?artID=25&lID=1
- Freedom House Report on Press Freedom in Guatemala: http://tinyurl.com/cldpw
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