Mexico While journalists in the capital, Mexico City, report freely on government, crime, and corruption, reporters in the U.S.-Mexico border region risk grave danger in covering sensitive topics, such as drug trafficking. Two border journalists were killed for their work in 2004. Francisco Ortiz Franco, 48, an editor and reporter with the tabloid weekly Zeta,…
Nicaragua Nicaraguan journalists say they are often able to work freely, but reporters in isolated regions where the government has little control remain at particular risk from drug traffickers and corrupt officials. Relations between the government and the press have improved since President Enrique Bolaños Geyer took office in 2002. Journalists say they are able…
Panama Despite legislative steps toward repealing desacato (disrespect) laws in 2004, Panama’s press is among the most legally constricted in Latin America. The country’s “gag laws,” which include a range of statutes criminalizing criticism of public officials, were enacted under military rule in the 1960s. Some of these laws have been repealed, but Panamanian authorities…
Paraguay In a major advance for press freedom in the Americas, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found in September that a 1994 criminal defamation conviction in Paraguay violated international law. The court ruled that the criminal proceedings themselves violated the American Convention on Human Rights because they were an “excessive limitation in a democratic…
Peru Attacks and threats against journalists increased considerably in 2004, reversing a decline that had followed Alejandro Toledo’s accession to the presidency in 2001. And while Peruvian journalists generally work freely, several have been prosecuted on criminal defamation charges. The embattled Toledo, a highly unpopular leader whose term ends in July 2006, has faced several…
United States In 2004, U.S. prosecutors and judges showed a new and alarming willingness to compel reporters to reveal confidential sources. Prosecutors in several high-profile cases insisted that journalists name their sources, and judges backed up the demands by ordering reporters to testify or face fines and imprisonment.
Venezuela Several worrying legal developments in Venezuela curtailed press freedom in 2004. In particular, a new broadcast media law could be used to restrict news coverage critical of the government. Conflict between President Hugo Chávez Frías and the private media continued in 2004. Soon after Chávez was elected in 1998 on promises of a “democratic…
Committee to Protect Journalists This article appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on February 22, 2005 Posted: February 17, 2005 The media was abuzz over comments attributed to CNN news executive Eason Jordan that some of the several dozen journalists killed in Iraq were deliberately targeted by U.S. forces. Pundits, bloggers, columnists, and members of Congress…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that a bill to repeal the crime of desacato (disrespect) has been languishing in Congress for more than a year. We urge you to use the power of your office to expedite the elimination of these anachronistic provisions.