Threats to Press Freedom in the Americas Hearing
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THREATS TO PRESS FREEDOM IN THE AMERICAS HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JULY 29, 2015 Serial No. 114–83 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 95–696PDF WASHINGTON : 2015 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 12:52 Sep 07, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 Z:\WORK\_WH\072915\95696 SHIRL COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida BRAD SHERMAN, California DANA ROHRABACHER, California GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey JOE WILSON, South Carolina GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida TED POE, Texas BRIAN HIGGINS, New York MATT SALMON, Arizona KAREN BASS, California DARRELL E. ISSA, California WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina ALAN GRAYSON, Florida MO BROOKS, Alabama AMI BERA, California PAUL COOK, California ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas GRACE MENG, New York SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania LOIS FRANKEL, Florida RON DESANTIS, Florida TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas TED S. YOHO, Florida ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois CURT CLAWSON, Florida BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania SCOTT DESJARLAIS, Tennessee REID J. RIBBLE, Wisconsin DAVID A. TROTT, Michigan LEE M. ZELDIN, New York DANIEL DONOVAN, New York AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina, Chairman CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois MATT SALMON, Arizona GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York RON DESANTIS, Florida ALAN GRAYSON, Florida TED S. YOHO, Florida ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California DANIEL DONOVAN, New York (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 12:52 Sep 07, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 Z:\WORK\_WH\072915\95696 SHIRL C O N T E N T S Page WITNESSES Carlos Ponce, Ph.D., director of the Latin America Program, Freedom House .. 5 Mr. Carlos Laurı´a, senior Americas program coordinator, Committee to Pro- tect Journalists ..................................................................................................... 17 Mr. Claudio Paolillo, chairman, Freedom of the Press and Information Com- mittee, Inter-American Press Association .......................................................... 26 Mr. Nicola´s Pe´rez Lapentti, co-director, El Universo in Ecuador ........................ 53 Mr. Alfredo Corchado, Mexico bureau chief, The Dallas Morning News ............ 75 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING Carlos Ponce, Ph.D.: Prepared statement .............................................................. 8 Mr. Carlos Laurı´a: Prepared statement ................................................................ 20 Mr. Claudio Paolillo: Prepared statement ............................................................. 28 Mr. Nicola´s Pe´rez Lapentti: Prepared statement ................................................. 55 Mr. Alfredo Corchado: Prepared statement ........................................................... 78 APPENDIX Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 98 Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 99 The Honorable Jeff Duncan, a Representative in Congress from the State of South Carolina, and chairman, Subcommittee on the Western Hemi- sphere: Material submitted for the record ......................................................... 100 (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 12:52 Sep 07, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 Z:\WORK\_WH\072915\95696 SHIRL VerDate 0ct 09 2002 12:52 Sep 07, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 Z:\WORK\_WH\072915\95696 SHIRL THREATS TO PRESS FREEDOM IN THE AMERICAS WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:42 p.m., in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Jeff Duncan (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. DUNCAN. A quorum being present, the subcommittee will come to order. I would now like to recognize myself for an opening statement. In 1776, the Second Continental Congress of the thirteen United States of America declared: We hold these truths be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and they are endowed by their Cre- ator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, lib- erty, and the pursuit of happiness. In 1791, the United States of America adopted the Bill of Rights, which among other things, affirmed the American citizens’ freedom of speech, the press, and the right of people to peacefully assemble, the ability to speak openly without censure or fear of reprisal as a hallmark of free peoples everywhere. And the freedom of press is critical to sustaining democracy and the rule of law and enabling people to remain free from state and in some cases, nonstate con- trol or oppression. Journalists provide needed accountability for governments by challenging conventional thinking; reporting on different and often opposing viewpoints; and offering people information that informs their understanding of the issues. Unfortunately, in our hemi- sphere, a trend of conditioning and even curtailing press freedoms in several countries is deeply disturbing. From severe government repression and outright targeting of journalists by Cuba, Venezuela, and Ecuador to organized crime, corruption, and impunity in other countries in Latin America, jour- nalists have very difficult jobs, often risking their very lives and their loved ones to bring information and the truth to their fellow citizens. Although the purpose of this hearing is to highlight some of the more concerning trends of threats to press freedoms in the Amer- icas, I do want to note that there are some bright spots in the re- gion with Canada and most of the Caribbean having relatively (1) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 12:52 Sep 07, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Z:\WORK\_WH\072915\95696 SHIRL 2 open media environments in comparison to other countries in the region. In recent years, several international press rights monitoring or- ganizations have expressed growing concerns about the deteriora- tion of press freedoms in Latin America. Groups, like Freedom House, Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Jour- nalists, and the Inter-American Press Association, all report on threats to freedoms of the press in the Western Hemisphere. And we are fortunate to have key experts from some of these groups represented here today to testify about their work. I also want to commend the efforts of the Organization of Amer- ican States Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, who has done some important work on threats to freedom of the press through highlighting progress and problems within specific coun- tries in the Americas through the comprehensive annual reports. These reports are excellent tools for providing transparency and ac- countability to countries in the region. In addition, I also want to congratulate the Special Rapporteur for his efforts to bring to public awareness the issue of government surveillance programs that have threatened journalists’ rights of privacy and freedom of expression. According to the Reporters Without Borders’ 2015 World Press Freedom Index, only three countries in the Western Hemisphere managed to score in the top 20 of 180 countries documented: Can- ada, Jamaica, and Costa Rica. Notoriously, Mexico and Cuba were among the worst offenders in the Western Hemisphere listed in that report. When it comes to violence against the media, Mexico exists as one of the most dangerous countries for media, with journalists often receiving extortion and kidnapping threats from government officials, criminal groups, and other transnational gangs. In fact, Mexico accounts for more than a third of all of the killing of media workers and journalists in the hemisphere since 2009. In addition, Cuba ranks worst in the region, according to Free- dom House, and among the 10 most censored countries in the world according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Further- more, Cuba and Venezuela have been singled out frequently and consistently for having repressive media environments and for often targeting peaceful protesters and political dissidents. In these countries, independent journalists and bloggers are often subject to government sanction, harassment, and detention. Just last year, we saw Venezuelan security forces opening fire on journalists during student demonstrations that ultimately turned deadly. These conditions have led to more than 400 Venezuelan journalists living in exile today. In addition to