Free Expression in Latin America and the Caribbean

A very important alignment of Latin American and Caribbean free expression voices has begun to unfold under the banner of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) which brings together organisations from all over the world committed to free speech, a free press and general freedom of expression.

It can be said that representative organisations of Latin America and the Caribbean have for long remained estranged cousins with little inclination to join hands in pursuit of goals such as the maintenance of human rights and our freedoms. The ambivalence has been exacerbated by the presence of states such as Cuba and Venezuela that have openly expressed and applied sanctions against free expression.

Mixed feelings on this aspect of the discussion occur because there have always been relatively close relations between these two countries and the English-speaking Caribbean. Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica were among the first countries of the world to officially recognise Cuba as a legitimate state run by a government which has as its supreme ambition the betterment of its people. Cuba has also been a generous benefactor in the form of educational scholarships and the ready availability of health care professionals in situations where other countries of the region have fallen dramatically short.

But, this does not reduce Cuba’s responsibility to honour commitment to Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which specifically defines the parameters of this important freedom. People cannot and should not be imprisoned or harassed for expressing their views on matters of public affairs.

Persons on the so-called “left” of Caribbean public affairs are committing a grave error in not unequivocally condemning such an approach by Cuban officials, even as we all recognise the country’s contribution in the areas I have described.

Good feelings about programmes of direct and indirect financial aid from Venezuela to Caribbean countries under severe financial strain need also to be balanced against the designs of the authoritarian leader in Caracas. Too many in the Caribbean are prepared to provide blind cheerleader support for an anti-Americanism that has as its basis circumstances that have little to do with us.

For reasons such as these, Caribbean people need to spend more time attempting to understand what makes the countries of Latin America tick while we engage a similar exercise to come to terms with neighbours about whom we understand too little.

The participation of the Association of Caribbean MediaWorkers (ACM) at the Annual Meeting of the IFEX Latin American and Caribbean Alliance in Lima, Peru on March 23-25, 2010 was one attempt to achieve the latter objective.

The ACM’s contribution to the meeting focused on defining New and Emerging Challenges to Freedom of Expression and Improving Collaboration on Free Expression Issues between Latin American and Caribbean groups.

The Association also contributed to and endorsed a conference statement which defined ten key challenges to freedom of expression in Latin America and the Caribbean. These included:

1. Illegitimate mechanisms of governmental control over the media that allow undue political interference. Political control is exercised via the discretionary granting of licenses or the regulation of broadcasting; through abuse in the distribution of State advertising to influence editorial lines; through the ownership or significant control of the media by political leaders or parties; as well as through procedures against independent media based on political motivations, including the defense of obsolete regulations - such as sedition laws or the requirement of "truthfulness" in the news – such policies are destined to criminalise the criticism of governments and public officials.

2. Criminal laws against defamation, such as contempt of court laws or those that criminalise libel and slander are often used to restrict freedom of expression. The abuse of such laws and the existence of excessively severe sanctions, such as imprisonment or suspended sentences, result in the loss of civil rights.

3. Violence against journalists remains a very serious threat to the freedom of expression; particularly against those journalists who cover social problems, including organised crime or drug trafficking; who criticise the authorities or others in positions of power; who cover violations of human rights or corruption; or who work in conflict zones. An increasing number of violent attacks on journalists remain unpunished and not enough resources are allocated to prevent them or to investigate them and seek justice when they do take place. This phenomenon often leads to journalists' self-censorship and therefore diminishes citizen access to information on matters of public interest.

4. Limits to the right to access information, despite having been widely acknowledged as a basic human right. Most of the region's States have not approved legislation to ensure full compliance.

5. Discrimination in the exercise of the right to freedom of expression, against historically disadvantaged groups (women, indigenous people, among other vulnerable groups and other minorities) who are still struggling for their views to be taken into account and to be able to access information that is relevant to them. Among the principal violations are obstacles to the creation of media outlets for these populations, and the minimal representation of their members in the newsrooms of the major media, including public outlets.

6. Economic pressures that threaten the media's capacity to cover matters of public interest, due to the increasing concentration of media ownership, with serious consequences for the diversity of sources and content. The strains on the advertising market and other commercial pressures have led the media to take cost-cutting measures that are detrimental to the coverage of local issues and to investigative journalism, and instead promote low-level intellectual entertainment. These factors increase the risk of only existing media outlets reaping the benefits of the transition to digital frequencies, thus preventing greater diversity and access to public interest media.

7. Lack of support for public and community-based stations, which can play an important social role, face increasingly frequent obstacles to public financing access and suffer the lack of specific legal recognition with appropriate criteria in fair and democratic conditions that guarantee their development and prevent discriminatory measures based on technical or sustainability based issues.

8. Using national security as a guise to restrict the freedom of expression, which has historically been used to impose unjustified restrictions on freedom of expression through overly broad definitions of what constitutes "apology" or "promotion" of terrorism or violence.

9. Governmental control of Internet use, to control or limit this outlet of free speech through the blocking of websites. Also, certain corporations that provide search, access, messaging and publishing services, among others, do not make enough efforts to respect the privacy rights of users to access the Internet without interference.

10. Restricted access to new information and communication technologies. Although most of the population still has limited or no access to the Internet, States in the region continue to maintain pricing structures that prevent the use of the Internet by the least privileged sectors and fail to extend connectivity to all their countries' territories, leaving rural users, in particular, with less information and diminished spaces for free expression.

The Caribbean context on the question of free expression was framed by a presentation on defining the Caribbean and exploring its socio-political antecedents. It was expressed that in the English-speaking Caribbean, defined as those countries that are member states of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), threats to free expression are often not readily evident, did not always include violence or the threat of violence, but are very much a feature of modern life in the region.

It was explained that, unlike many areas of Latin America, there is a long tradition of democracy and Caribbean societies are known to be open, with a free press that pre-dates the region’s achievement of political independence, beginning with some states in the 1960s.

State monopolies in the Caribbean broadcast sector started coming to an end in the 1980s but, in 2010, not all countries are currently at the same level. However, by and large, the state no longer dominates broadcast media in most countries.

In the Caricom countries there remains direct censorship in the form of official censorship of movies and some broadcasting content – mainly on grounds of decency, security and protection of the public interest. There was also censorship that came in the form of judicial edicts and the rulings of presiding officers in parliament. There also existed widespread self-censorship often influenced by commercial and political factors.

The ACM pointed out that criminal defamation and criminal speech are on the books of all English-speaking Caribbean countries and there have been recent examples of the use of these provisions in countries such as Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda. Civil defamation awards are often heavy and in Grenada, recently, one newspaper was forced to close its doors under the burden of a defamation award.

The challenges to free expression have come via the chilling effect not only of the presence of strong defamation laws, but the presence of social attitudes toward what constitutes “decency” and issues of good taste. There is also a sense that free expression should not harm children, offend religious practices or promote social discord.

In Jamaica, for example, the Broadcasting Commission has a no-play list of music. In Trinidad and Tobago, the Board of Film Censors has more than once banned movies and on more than one occasion, the police have stormed theatre stages for the use of obscene language. In many countries, broadcasters will not play music that appears to offend the ruling party.

State advertising and government fiscal prerogatives have been used in some countries to punish errant media, performers and other social groups.

Importantly, the ACM indicated, a vulnerability to natural disasters has led to temporary and permanent media closures and has created a level of vulnerability since state support can be selectively applied post-disaster.

The ACM also pointed to the fact that disparities in access to online media/mobile technologies continue to exist in some states. This meant that the freedom to seek and access expression was often not honoured. The Association also pointed to instances in which state officials have expressed a desire to impose restrictions on internet content and had, in at least one instance, been cited as a measure possible under telecommunications regulation.

Licensing of Journalists - Feedback

A story in the Trinidad Newsday of October 24 quotes Attorney General, John Jeremie, as saying the proposal to license journalists would be "ridiculous" if it were in fact true and not an "urban myth".

I suppose having only weeks ago returned to the post he could not have been briefed on every single thing. But this is a good sign that at least in one CARICOM country the proposal offered by regional technocrats will not reach very far.

There has also been very supportive feedback from some leading Caribbean personalities.

Here's hoping this battle ends soon.

Getting the Youngsters Prepared

Ten young Caribbean journalists are benefiting from the skill and experience of leading regional practitioners under a mentoring programme being executed by the Association of Caribbean MediaWorkers (ACM), under the banner of the Caribbean Network of Young Journalists (CNYJ).

The journalists were ‘paired’ at an orientation workshop hosted by the ACM in Trinidad on May 23-24, 2008.

The pilot project, funded in part by the United Nations Educational Scientific Organisation (UNESCO), will span a period of 12 months. It brings journalists from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago in ongoing contact with each other.

Mentors and their “associates” have been paired across national borders. During the workshop, they explored various means of collaboration and discussed issues such as current journalistic standards in the Caribbean and ways deficiencies can be addressed.

Renowned Trinidad and Tobago journalist/author, Raoul Pantin, also spoke on his career as a journalist. The young associates were given complimentary copies of his autobiographical account as a hostage during the 1990 coup d’etat in Trinidad entitled ‘Days of Terror’ published earlier this year.

Project Manager of the ACM/CNYJ Mentoring Programme, Clare Forrester, said she was “delighted to be a part of this dynamic initiative designed to help sharpen the tools and techniques of young journalists.”

“Unquestionably, this kind of mentoring training can make a huge difference to the credibility of information reported in the media,” she said.

Work has also begun on an Elections Handbook for Caribbean Journalists which, ACM President Wesley Gibbings said, “has the potential to increase the capacity of young journalists to improve the coverage of elections by leaps and bounds.”

Work on the handbook is being led by veteran Trinidad and Tobago journalist/media trainer, Lennox Grant. Other members of the handbook team are Jamaican journalist/media law lecturer, Vernon Daley, Puerto Rican law professor, Sheila Velez Martinez and Gibbings.

Assistance in researching the handbook is being received from the United Nations Information Centre for the Caribbean (UNIC) office for the Caribbean in Port of Spain. The editorial team met with UNIC Director, Angelica Hunt, on May 23.

Gibbings said the handbook will “reside alongside our climate change handbook as an example of how the ACM has been able to intervene meaningfully in the process of improving the quality of journalism in the Caribbean.”

He said multi-media technologies will be employed in making the handbook more accessible to all Caribbean journalists and to ensure that “in every Caribbean newsroom there will be an ACM Elections handbook.”

Forrester added: “The ACM should be encouraged, applauded and supported by all who are committed to a healthy and credible media climate so crucially important to sustaining a democratic environment and the long-term development of the countries in our region.”

Why World Press Freedom Day is Important

Observance of World Press Freedom Day 2008 establishes the critical link between the untrammelled ability of people to express themselves and to freely access official information, and their empowerment as citizens.

Some of us correspondingly contend that a principal measure of the power of the people is the extent to which the flow of information, news, opinion and analysis is facilitated by an environment that enables free expression and access to information.

The Caribbean region is, through this injunction, challenged by socio-political antecedents to contemplate a process which would have the impact of effectively transferring responsibility for the future from the grasp of a few to the hands of the people.

It is also a time when crime and violence, economic instability, natural disasters, political conflict and changing global circumstances presage continued uncertainty. The urgency to find solutions and to mitigate impacts is apparent, often in unbridled fashion.

The practice of journalism is unique as a professional function reliant on the view that more, not less, free expression and openness is desirable as a pre-condition for social progress, transparency and participatory democracy. This uniqueness is characterised by the manner in which the media serve as a bridge between civil society and the state.

The ACM also concurs with the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, that press freedom and freedom of information, are “the founding principles for good governance, development and peace.”
It is true that professional imperfections militate against achievement of the broader social goals but a penalty of silence is unacceptable as a form of redress against perceived harm.

For reasons such as this, the ACM stands alert to interventions that have the impact of restricting, rather than facilitating free expression. Acts of official censorship, prior restraint and self-censorship in the media are condemned as inimical to the broader cause of progress and growth.

The absence of effective Access to Information laws in some jurisdictions also pronounces unfavourably on the degree to which people are empowered to impact on the decision-making process in a way that affects their everyday lives.

Official regulations that seek to bring order to chaotic telecommunications environments are best advised by the view that content restrictions, beyond widely-accepted rules that protect a person’s privacy and character and the security of the state, are not supported by the principles of free expression, as defined by Article 19 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, among other hemispheric and international instruments.

The ACM is committed to raising awareness among media professionals on the value of press freedom as a function of freedom of expression with all its attendant benefits to humanity.

We believe professional standards should rise to meet the requirements of such freedom and that a concerted effort to network Caribbean media professionals, improve standards, instil high ethical standards and to insist on adherence to the principle of press freedom is the responsibility of an organisation such as ours.

On World Press Freedom Day 2008, we re-dedicate ourselves to the task of shaping our profession in a manner that best serves the interests of a region in social and economic transition, challenged by changing global circumstances, impaired by a colonial legacy but committed to building a better future.

REVERSAL OF STABROEK NEWS BAN

It is encouraging that the Guyana government has heeded informed national, regional and international opinion on the Stabroek News issue.

The challenge of the advertising boycott highlighted the multi-dimensional nature of press freedom and the conditions that either promote or endanger its development.

It is a cause best supported by constant vigil and dispassionate examination and analysis. At its very core lies the welfare and well-being of Caribbean people at a time of social crisis. It is thus a cause for everyone to embrace, not just journalists and other media workers.

The principles that guide the placement of official advertising are well established.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in its Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression, states clearly that, “the arbitrary and discriminatory placement of official advertising … with the intent to put pressure on and punish or reward and provide privileges to social communicators and communications media because of the opinions they express threaten freedom of expression” and must be explicitly prohibited by law.


STABROEK NEWS STORY

Govt resumes advertising with Stabroek News

April 9, 2008

The state through the Government Information Agency (GINA) has resumed advertising with Stabroek News, placing its first order in 17 months yesterday morning.

Stabroek News’ Advertising Manager Patricia Cumbermack said GINA Media Coordinator Karen Persaud telephoned her yesterday morning to make arrangements to start purchasing advertising space in this newspaper once again. No reason for the decision was given to Cumbermack.The first order was for an eight inches by three columns advertisement for the Com-munity Services Enhance-ment Project which is administered by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.

Asked for a comment, Editor-in-Chief David de Caires said that a very senior government official had rung him on Friday and indicated that Stabroek News would begin receiving ads from ministries and other agencies starting this week.

“No reason was given for the change in policy,” he said. Nevertheless, he welcomed the change in the government’s position.

Government, through GINA, first withdrew ads from 29 ministries and state agencies in November 2006 citing economic considerations. It placed ads with the country’s two other dailies, the state-owned Guyana Chronicle and the privately owned Kaieteur News as well as the weekly Mirror, which is aligned to the ruling party.

Following this move other government and state-owned entities, which previously advertised independently of GINA also withdrew ads, including the Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Revenue Authority, the Office of the Auditor General, the Guyana Sugar Corporation, the Guyana Power and Light and the regional administrations.

Stabroek News objected to this move, contending that the withdrawal of the ads was because of the newspaper’s editorial stance on issues of governance. This newspaper sought to have the ads re-instated but to no avail.

The withdrawal of the ads was widely condemned locally by a number of entities and individuals including the Guyana Press Association, opposition political parties, the Guyana Trades Union Congress, the Guyana Human Rights Association, the Private Sector Commission and the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association.

The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) and regional media houses, as well as international media organisations, including the Inter-American Press Asso-ciation, the Commonwealth Press Union, the International Press Institute, and Reporters Without Borders had asked the government to restore the ads to this newspaper.

The cut-off also saw Stabroek News’ employees picketing a meeting of the Commonwealth Finance Ministers in Georgetown last year. Last month, the Inter-American Press Association wrote to Caricom Secretary General Edwin Carrington asking for the cut-off to be placed on the agenda of the meeting of Caricom Heads in Trinidad last Saturday.

Efforts by a regional mediating team to end the boycott via an offer to craft a mechanism for the distribution of state advertising also failed.