IMPUNITY
- ARGENTINA
WHEREAS
in a controversial ruling, an appeals court reduced the sentences of some
of those who had been convicted in the murder of news photographer José
Luis Cabezas, a landmark case that sent shock waves through Argentine society
WHEREAS
the January 25, 1997 murder of a photographer for Noticias magazine in Pinamar
is one of most serious attacks on press freedom since the restoration of democracy
in 1983
WHEREAS
on November 13, 2003, a criminal appeals court ruling in the province of Buenos
Aires reduced the sentences of some of those convicted of the crime and, under
legislation granting double credit for time served before final judgment,
at least one of those convicted could be released later this year
WHEREAS
Principle 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states, “Freedom of expression
and of the press are severely limited by murder, terrorism, kidnapping, intimidation,
the unjust imprisonment of journalists, the destruction of facilities, violence
of any kind and impunity for perpetrators. Such acts must be investigated
promptly and punished harshly”
THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF
THE IAPA RESOLVES
to address the Supreme
Court of the Province of Buenos Aires to express the IAPA’s concern
over this ruling, which has been met with widespread condemnation among the
people and in the Argentine press
to ask the judges of said
Supreme Court that, should this case come before them, they prevent the sentence
reductions from going into effect and proceed to apply the full weight of
the law in the case, in order to set an example and prevent this type of crime
from being repeated in the future.
questions
or comments?