5 August 2005
IAPA ASSESSES PRESS FREEDOM IN THE AMERICAS
Violence against journalists in Mexico and the jailing of an American reporter who refused to divulge the identity of her source have prompted the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) to send missions to both countries to investigate press freedom violations.
In the coming weeks, IAPA will send a delegation to Mexico to assess the alarming numbers of journalists targeted for reporting on corruption and drug cartels. Last April, two journalists - Guadalupe García Escamilla and Raúl Gibb Guerrero - were murdered and a third - Alfredo Jiménez Mota - disappeared http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/65942/).
IAPA says there has been no progress in the investigation into Jiménez Mota's disappearance. During its mission, IAPA will also hold a meeting of editors from Northern Mexico to discuss threats against journalists in the region.
In the United States, IAPA will send a delegation to visit jailed "New York Times" reporter Judith Miller in Arlington, Virginia, and meet with Senators in Washington, D.C. to support a proposed federal bill that would protect journalists who refuse to reveal their sources from being jailed.
Miller was sent to prison on 6 July after a judge charged her with contempt of court for refusing to testify before a grand jury. She was subpoenaed by U.S. special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who was appointed to find out who leaked the identity of a CIA agent to the media in 2003 (see: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/67761/).
Mexico and the United States are among four countries of concern highlighted in IAPA's newest quarterly report on press freedom in the Americas.
IAPA says in Cuba, 24 journalists remain imprisoned, of which 12 have serious health problems and lack access to adequate medical attention.
In Venezuela, new and amended laws have placed greater restrictions on the press, including a toughened Penal Code that criminalises insult, and a Law on Social Responsibility of Radio and Television that authorises the government to control the programme schedules and content of private media, says IAPA.
On the positive side, IAPA notes that an increasing number of governments have passed access to information legislation, including Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Dominican Republic and Ecuador. Other countries, including Argentina, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Paraguay, are moving in this direction.
Governments in Guatemala, Honduras and Panama have also decriminalised insult laws, while in Panama, so-called Gag Laws used to muzzle the press have been repealed. In Chile, the government has eliminated the crime of insult from the Law on National Security. IAPA says the next move would be to remove the same provision from the Penal Code and Military Code of Justice.
To read IAPA's report, visit: http://www.sipiapa.com/pressreleases/chronologicaldetail.cfm?PressReleaseID=1435Visit these links:
- IAPA country reports: http://sipiapa.org/pulications/anualrep2005.cfm-
Impunity Campaign: http://www.impunidad.com/- Tijuana: Free Fire Zone: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2004/tijuana/tijuana.html- Reporters Without Borders on Mexico: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=14153- Human Rights Watch on Venezuela: http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=americas&c=venezu- Campaign to Stop Murder of Mexican Journalists: http://www.pencanada.ca/media/NiUnoMas.pdf