62nd
General Assembly
Mexico City, Mexico
September 29 to October 3, 2006
Camino Real Hotel
Reports and Resolutions
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COSTA
RICA
Resolution of the 62nd General Assembly
Mexico City, Mexico
September 29 – October 3, 2006
WHEREAS
Judge Ernesto Jinesta of the Constitutional Division of the Costa Rican Supreme
Court ordered several editors of media outlets to render a statement under oath
on “a possible parallel trial in the press or media” to which a
former president of Costa Rica claims to have been subjected
WHEREAS
this bizarre investigation opens the door for improper judicial interference
into the media’s reporting policies and practices, and represents a serious
threat to press freedom
WHEREAS
its reporting on corruption has earned the Costa Rican press international renown,
and any attempt to improperly curb its work should be firmly rejected
WHEREAS
on May 3 of this year, World Press Freedom Day, the Constitutional Division
of the Costa Rican Supreme Court—in a ruling that clearly goes against
a progressive international trend—upheld the archaic Print Law, which
makes injuria (offensive or insulting statements or actions) and calumnia (false
allegations of a crime) punishable by jail
WHEREAS
Principle 10 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states: “No news medium
nor journalist may be punished for publishing the truth or criticizing or denouncing
the government”
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
THE IAPA RESOLVES
to express its surprise
that the freedom of expression is being compromised at the hands of the very
court that, above all others, is charged with guaranteeing the protection of
human rights
to urge the Constitutional
Division of the Costa Rican Supreme Court to ensure that freedom of speech and
freedom of the press are.
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