RESOLUTION ON VENEZUELA
The members of the Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom Organizations
present at the meeting on 21 November 2002 in Vienna, Austria, issued the
following resolution on the situation on freedom of the press in Venezuela.
WHEREAS
violations of, affronts to, and various forms of threats to freedom of
expression and press freedom continue in Venezuela through the actions of
all the branches of government
WHEREAS
in an October 23, 2002 press release addressing the severe political crisis
in Venezuela, Secretary General César Gaviria of the Organization of
American States noted that "now, more than ever, there is an urgent need to
overcome… the limitations placed on freedom of expression through threats
and harassment"
WHEREAS
the joint mission of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) and
International Press Institute (IPI) to Caracas in September 2002, as well as
recent missions by the International Association of Broadcasting (IAB), the
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), and the World Association of
Newspapers (WAN), observed and concluded that there are threats to, and
systematic violations of, the exercise of freedom of expression and press
freedom in Venezuela
WHEREAS
in addition to Ruling 1013 of the Venezuelan Supreme Court’s Constitutional
Division, which restricts rights of free expression and the public’s right
to be informed, government officials are now pushing for enactment of a
Content Law that would sharply curtail the free exercise of expression and
press freedom
WHEREAS
Venezuela’s National Assembly recently opened debate on a draft Citizen
Participation Act that would create a National Mass Media Oversight Council
with the power to impose penalties on media outlets that fail to report in a
"true and impartial" manner
WHEREAS
The Venezuelan Government has not complied with the measures adopted by the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights requiring protection of the rights
to life and personal integrity, and the right of freedom of expression and
of the press, of publishers, editors and journalists of Venezuela’s mass
media outlets
WHEREAS
news photographer Jorge Tortoza of Bloque de Armas was murdered on April 11,
2002, and physical assaults and abuse of various journalists by the
"Bolivarian Circles" – irregular street shock troops under the political
control of government supporters – have increased several times over in the
months since then; specifically, the following journalists have been injured
or received specific death threats: Gabriel Osorio of Revista Primicia;
Olivia Ojeda and Winston Duran of Yaracuy Hoy; Antonio Monroy, David Pérez
Jansen and Argenis Uribe of RCTV (Canal 2); José Angel Ocanto of Diario El
Impulso; Roxana Díaz, Felipe Lugo, Ana Karina Villalba, Aymara Di Lorenzo
and Martha Palma Troconis de Globovisión (Canal 33); Carlos Briceño and
Eduardo Sanchez of Diario El Carabobeño; Jairo Altuve, Dorian Esteves and
Diosirys Obregón of Notitarde; Mauro Acosta and Luis Alfonso Fernández of
VeneVisión; Leslie Pedreañez, Elianta Quintero and Johan Merchán of Televen
(Canal 10); Alicia La Rotta and Gustavo Rodríguez of Diario El Universal;
Omar Veliz of El Siglo; Maria Alejandra Monagas and Carlos Meza of Ultimas
Noticias
WHEREAS
Venezuela’s president is still making direct threats to permanently suspend
the transmission signals of private radio and television media outlets,
because of disagreement with their news content
WHEREAS
the Declaration of Chapultepec and the Declaration of Principles on Freedom
of Expression declare that freedom of expression and of the press is an
inalienable right of the people and it is an indispensable requirement for
the existence of a democratic society; and that both documents establish
that prior censorship, restrictions on the circulation of the media or
dissemination of their reports, forced publication of information, the
imposition of obstacles to the free flow of news, directly contradict
freedom of the press
The Coordinating Committee resolves:
to roundly condemn the conduct of the administration and other branches of
Venezuela’s government for systematically violating the freedom of
expression and of the press within the meaning of the Declaration of
Chapultepec and the OAS Declaration of Principles on the Freedom of
Expression
to urge the administration and other branches of Venezuela’s government to
conduct themselves with greater regard for such freedoms, and to provide
such protections as are indispensable for the exercise of press freedom in
that country
to demand that the Government of Venezuela comply with the measures adopted
by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to protect publishers,
editors and journalists
to respectfully recommend to the Government of Venezuela that it seek an
advisory opinion from the Inter-American Human Rights Court on the draft
Content Law and Citizen Participation Act, to determine whether they are
compatible with the rules of the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights
http://www.freemedia.at/Protests2002/CoordCommResol21.11.02.htm#VENEZUELA