62nd
General Assembly
Mexico City, Mexico
September 29 to October 3, 2006
Camino Real Hotel
Reports and Resolutions
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PANAMA
Resolution of the Midyear Meeting
Quito, Ecuador
WHEREAS
the IAPA held a conference and workshop in Panama City on February 13 and 14,
2006 on press freedom in Panama, and this event was very well attended by current
and former Panamanian Supreme Court justices, members of the National Assembly,
the public prosecutor’s office, journalists’ associations, attorneys,
collaborators, and official advisers on press legislation
WHEREAS
this gathering addressed such topics as the decriminalization of libel, developments
in Panama’s Transparency Act, and the legal implications of the recently
passed Law 22 of 2005 on the right of reply
WHEREAS
specific points of agreement were reached, such as recommending that Panama’s
National Assembly clarify Law 22 of 2005, decriminalize libel, and strengthen
Article 6 of the Transparency Act, all in the interest of furthering press freedom
in Panama
WHEREAS
it was announced at this gathering that criminal legislation is being drafted
that includes the offense of libel
WHEREAS
Principle 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states: “Prior censorship,
restrictions on the circulation of the media or dissemination of their reports,
forced publication of information, the imposition of obstacles to the free flow
of news, and restrictions on the activities and movements of journalists directly
contradict freedom of the press”
THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES
to urge President Martín
Torrijos and the National Assembly of Panama to consider the recommendations
of the Legislative Conference on Press Freedom held in Panama on February 13
and 14, 2006 — as set forth in the statement issued by the IAPA on February
14, 2006 — as well as the recommendations of the inter-American human
rights system, in addressing the offense of libel in the pending amendment of
the criminal code; and, similarly, to urge them to address the need to clarify
Law 22 of 2005 and strengthen the Transparency Act.
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