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WHEREAS in Venezuela the branches of government are being subordinated to the will of the president, to the detriment of the principles of independence and separation of powers inherent in democracy and the rule of law, all of which has occurred deliberately with the intention of using legal formulas to cover up threats, violations and attacks on press freedom WHEREAS the recent approval in the National Assembly by a questionable simple majority of the Organic Law of the Supreme Court, the Law on the Social Responsibility of Radio and Television, or Law of Content, and amendments to the Criminal Code are irrefutable proof of the above, and since, all together they subject regulation of the content of the information and programming of private radio and television to government orders and the courts in addition to establishing contempt laws and ?criminalization? of dissident public opinion WHEREAS this institutional and legislative framework, given the risks it implies for freedom and personal integrity, gradually creates an atmosphere of self-censorship in the media and among journalists, which has resulted in the elimination of many radio and television opinion programs, which was then aggravated by the statement by the chief justice of the Supreme Court that any court decision contrary to the revolution will be overruled and the judges who issue it will be dismissed WHEREAS the Inter American Press Association has been witnessing the gradual deterioration of the climate of democratic freedom and respect for press freedom in Venezuela during its officers' various visits to the country WHEREAS government abuses of journalists for expressing their ideas and information in a timely fashion are continuing and getting worse, especially the cases of Patricia Poleo, Ibeyise Pacheco, Tamoa Calzadilla, Rafael Poleo and the lawyer Tulio Álvarez, who have been subjected to criminal charges, or prison sentences, as well as the case of the photographers of the daily El Carabobeño , Adalberto Pérez Ramírez and César Pérez, who were detained for trying to take pictures near the military facilities in Maracay to confirm the statement the president made in Uruguay that the people had gathered there to defend him against a possible revolt WHEREAS radio stations recently experienced pressures , such as excessive government fines, and some of their journalists have been given criminal sanctions or their programs have been suspended, such as the cases of Napoleón Bravo, Marta Colomina, Ana Karina Villalba, José Domingo Blanco, Isa Dobles and lawyer Asdrúbal Aguiar THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES to condemn the conduct of the Venezuelan government, which is directed at limiting democratic freedoms, reducing the guarantees of the rule of law and thus destroying press freedom to insist once again to international and hemispheric organizations and especially the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and its Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression to carry out their institutional duty and speak out about the repeated violations of press freedom in Venezuela, which involve open infringement of the Inter-American Democratic Charter the principles of freedom of expression of the OAS and the Declaration of Chapultepec.
Copyright © 2003 Inter American Press Association. All rights reserved. . |
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