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WHEREAS an international delegation from this institution visited Buenos Aires at the end of February and beginning of March, in fulfillment of a resolution adopted by the last General Assembly WHEREAS the delegation met with the president's chief of staff, the vice president, the chief justice of the supreme court, ruling party legislators, leaders of the opposition, journalists, editors, publishers and management for nearly a dozen newspapers and magazines, as well as freelance print, radio and television journalists and commentators, press association representatives for ADEPA, ADIRA and FOPEA, and non-governmental organizations, representing diverse and wide-ranging viewpoints WHEREAS the mission found confirmation of circumstances that contribute or may lead to erode press and other freedoms, and in fact already weaken that freedom and constitute barriers to the free exercise of journalistic activities, taking the form of biased awarding of government advertising contracts, selective denial of information applied to certain media and journalists, and a disguised yet direct pressure brought to bear by authorities against the press WHEREAS indications have arisen in interviews with Argentine journalists and media executives that there are problems among the citizenry that could limit press freedom and therefore it is necessary to urge Argentine journalists and media businessmen to intensify their daily activities to make sure that their only goal is to fulfill their indispensable duty to their readers and to the truth, in order to help consolidate the credibility and professional ethics of journalism, values that are absolutely necessary for democracy WHEREAS the presence of the delegation and its preliminary report was the subject of extraordinary attacks by President Néstor Kirchner unheard of in the history of IAPA's relations with Argentina WHEREAS President Kirchner's attacks, unrestrained and drawing upon discredited sources, were alternately leveled against the organization itself, the delegation or individual members, even attributed the actual presence of the delegation to persons neither members nor interviewed by it, and attacked Uruguayan members of IAPA WHEREAS President Kirchner stated that the IAPA took no action during the military dictatorship in Argentina, that those who had killed and persecuted journalists could not be custodians of press freedoms, and accused the delegation of financial motives aimed at defending major media outlets, all of which had been supported by left or right-wing dictatorships WHEREAS journalist Héctor Ricardo García, editor of the Buenos Aires daily Crónica , has been under house arrest for several months on charges of tax evasion pending at the criminal court for financial crimes WHEREAS Article 7 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states, ? Tariff and exchange policies, licenses for the importation of paper or news-gathering equipment, the assigning of radio and television frequencies and the granting or withdrawal of government advertising may not be used to reward or punish the media or individual journalists? THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES to alert the midyear meeting to the circumstances in Argentina and to acts, which however disguised and apparently minor, affect the essence of press freedoms, and if not fully understood can lead to a serious deterioration of press freedoms as has occurred in other countries of the hemisphere to demand the Argentine government specifically respond to IAPA exhortations concerning selective denial of information which represents a direct attack on freedom of the press and hinders journalism to emphasize that the press is charged with maximizing use of the right to the public record, and accordingly call on the Argentine government to adopt a policy of openness and respect for the role of the press to insist that the government apply technical guidelines to award government advertising, ensure optimal use of taxpayer resources, secure the best results for the particular advertising goals, guarantee transparency and dispel any suspicions that government advertising is being used to reward or punish the media or specific journalists to reject all of President Kirchner's attacks on the IAPA, the delegation and any of its members as inadmissible and untrue to express unconditional support for and confidence in former IAPA president, Danilo Arbilla, and express its support for managing editor of La Nación , Claudio Escribano, and the Uruguayan press, members of IAPA and targets of gratuitous attacks by the Argentine president to closely monitor developments in the trial of journalist Héctor Ricardo García to see that all judicial standards are upheld to ensure a fair and speedy trial.
Copyright © 2003 Inter American Press Association. All rights reserved. . |
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