INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS OEA/Ser.L/V/II. CIDH/RELE/INF. 12/13 31 December, 2013 Original: Spanish VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS AND MEDIA WORKERS: INTER-AMERICAN STANDARDS AND NATIONAL PRACTICES ON PREVENTION, PROTECTION AND PROSECUTION OF PERPETRATORS Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Catalina Botero Marino Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression 2013 Internet: http://www.cidh.org/relatoria Email: [email protected] ii OAS Cataloging-in-Publication Data Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. Violencia contra periodistas y trabajadores de medios: Estándares interamericanos y prácticas nacionales sobre prevención, protección y procuración de la justicia = Violence against journalists and media workers: Inter-American standards and national practices on prevention, protection and prosecution of perpetrators. v. ; cm. (OEA documentos oficiales ; OEA/Ser.L) ISBN 978-0-8270-6137-8 1. Freedom of the press--America. 2. Journalists--Crimes against--America. 3. Journalists--Violence against--America. I. Title. II. Title: Violence against journalists and media workers: Inter- American standards and national practices on prevention, protection and prosecution of perpetrators. III. Series. OAS official records ; OEA/Ser.L. OEA/Ser.L/V/II CIDH/RELE/INF.12/13 Document prepared and published thanks to the financial support of the Swedish International Cooperational for Development Agency and Open Society Foundations The content of this publication is the exclusive responsibility of the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and it does not in any way purport to represent the views of the donors Approved by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on December 31, 2013. iii INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS MEMBERS José de Jesus Orozco Henríquez Tracy Robinson Felipe González Rose-Marie Belle Antoine Rosa María Ortiz Dinah Shelton Rodrigo Escobar Gil ***** Secretario Ejecutivo: Emilio Alvarez-Icaza Secretaria Ejecutiva Adjunta: Elizabeth Abi-Mershed iv v OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS AND MEDIA WORKERS: INTER-AMERICAN STANDARDS AND NATIONAL PRACTICES ON PREVENTION, PROTECTION AND PROSECUTION OF PERPETRATORS INDEX TABLE OF ACRONYMS AND REFERENCES ............................................................. vii I. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 II. Violence against journalists in the Americas: an increasingly urgent challenge ................................................................................................................ 9 III.Violence against journalists: international standards and national practices ...............................................................................................................20 A. The obligation to prevent ....................................................................23 1. The obligation to maintain public discourse that contributes to preventing violence against journalists ......................................................................24 2. The obligation to instruct security services on respect for the media .................................................................31 3. The obligation to respect the right of journalists to keep their sources, notes, and personal and professional archives confidential .....................................................34 4. The obligation to punish violence against journalists ............36 5. The obligation to maintain accurate statistics on violence against journalists ...........................................38 B. The obligation to protect ....................................................................40 1. The obligation to protect at-risk journalists and media workers ..........................................................................40 2. Special protection mechanisms for journalists and media workers in place throughout the region .......................55 Colombia .......................................................................55 Mexico ...........................................................................67 Brasil ..............................................................................81 Guatemala .....................................................................88 Honduras .......................................................................93 C. The obligation to criminally investigate, prosecute and punish .........98 vi 1. The obligation to adopt an adequate institutional framework for the effective investigation, prosecution and punishment of violence against journalists ....................................................................106 2. The obligation to exercise due diligence and exhaust lines of inquiry related to the victim’s practice of journalism ....................................................................124 3. The obligation to conduct investigations in a reasonable time .............................................................................129 4. The obligation to remove legal obstacles to the investigation and effective and proportional punishment of the most serious crimes against journalists ....................................................................131 5. The obligation to facilitate victim participation ...................139 D. State obligations with regard to journalists in situations of social unrest .................................................................................................................141 E. State obligations regarding journalists in situations of armed conflict ................................................................................................................149 F. Violence against women journalists ..................................................155 G. The role of other actors: third-party States, media outlets and NGOs ...................................................................................................................166 IV. Conclusions and recommendations ..............................................................176 vii TABLE OF ACRONYMS AND REFERENCES ACHPR: African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights American Convention: American Convention on Human Rights American Declaration: American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man Declaration of Principles: Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression European Convention: European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms European Court: European Court of Human Rights IACHR: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ICCPR: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ILO: International Labor Organization Inter-American Court: Inter-American Court of Human Rights OAS: Organization of American States OSCE: Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Office of the Special Rapporteur: Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression UN: United Nations UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization viii 1 VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS AND MEDIA WORKERS: INTER-AMERICAN STANDARDS AND NATIONAL PRACTICES ON PREVENTION, PROTECTION AND PROSECUTION OF PERPETRATORS I. Introduction 1. The murder of journalists and members of the media is the most extreme form of censorship1. As the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (“Inter-American Court” or “Court”) has observed, “journalism can only be exercised freely when those who carry out this work are not victims of threats or physical, mental or moral attacks or other acts of harassment.”2 Such actions infringe, in a particularly radical way, not only the affected person’s individual freedom of thought and expression, but also the collective dimension of this right. Acts of violence against journalists (term that should be understood broadly, from a functional perspective3) or media workers for reasons connected to their professional 1 IACHR. Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. Special Study on the Status of Investigations into the Murder of Journalists during for Reasons that may be Related to their Work in Journalism (1995-2005). OEA/Ser.L/V/II.131. Doc. 35. March 8, 2008. Presentation; IACHR. Report No. 37/10. March 17, 2010. Case 12,308. Manoel Leal de Oliveira (Brazil). Para. 97; United Nations. General Assembly. Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns. A/HRC/20/22. April 10, 2012. Para. 21. Available for consultation at: http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?m=96 2 I/A Court H.R. Case of Vélez Restrepo and Family v. Colombia. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of September 3, 2012. Series C No. 248. Para. 209. 3 The term “journalists” in this report should be understood from a functional perspective; journalists are those individuals who observe and describe events, document and analyze events, statements, policies, and any propositions that can affect society, with the purpose of systematizing such information and gathering facts and analyses to inform sectors of society or society as a whole. Such a definition of journalists includes all media workers and support staff, as well as community media workers and so-called “citizen journalists” when they momentarily play