28 February 2007
BILL THREATENING FREE EXPRESSION CLOSER TO BECOMING LAW
Proposals to reform Panama's Criminal Code that seriously threaten freedom of expression and information have received a second reading in the National Assembly, ARTICLE 19 reports.
ARTICLE 19 has urged the Assembly to modify or remove three draft provisions. One, Article 422, would make it a crime punishable by up to four years' imprisonment to publish "confidential information involving state security."
Article 187 would set a sentence of up to two years' imprisonment for publishing without permission information that a third party claims would cause him or her prejudice. Right to information laws normally protect privacy, ARTICLE 19 says, but the proposed amendment does not recognise that a public interest may override privacy, which it says is essential if wrongdoing or incompetence are to be exposed.
Article 188-A would make it a crime to inquire, without official authorisation, on someone's life and activities or promote "espionage," "chasing" or "persecuting" anyone. It does not define these terms.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA), in a letter to Panamanian President Martín Torrijos on 14 February 2007, also expressed concern about the proposed reforms. It called attention to Article 189, which would set two- to five-year prison terms for reproducing or altering personal details contained in "electronic media," among others, and that could harm someone's good name.
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) says the first reading was on 7 February, leaving only one final reading before the changes become law.
Visit these sites:
- ARTICLE 19: http://www.article19.org/pdfs/press/panama-criminal-code.pdf
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=20979
- IAPA: http://sipiapa.com/pressreleases/srchcountrydetail.cfm?PressReleaseID=1850
- IFEX: http://ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75356/
- World Press Freedom Committee: http://ifex.org/en/content/view/full/70006/
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