LIMITS OF TOLERANCE: Freedom of Expression and the Public Debate in Chile Human Rights Watch New York AAA Washington AAA London AAA Brussels Copyright 8 November 1998 by Human Rights Watch. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. ISBN: 1-56432-192-4 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 98-88733 Addresses for Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY 10118-3299 Tel: (212) 290-4700, Fax: (212) 736-1300, E-mail: [email protected] 1522 K Street, N.W., #910, Washington, DC 20005-1202 Tel: (202) 371-6592, Fax: (202) 371-0124, E-mail: [email protected] 33 Islington High Street, N1 9LH London, UK Tel: (171) 713-1995, Fax: (171) 713-1800, E-mail: [email protected] 15 Rue Van Campenhout, 1000 Brussels, Belgium Tel: (2) 732-2009, Fax: (2) 732-0471, E-mail:[email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org Listserv address: To subscribe to the list, send an e-mail message to [email protected] with Asubscribe hrw-news@ in the body of the message (leave the subject line blank). Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. 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Human Rights Watch defends freedom of thought and expression, due process and equal protection of the law, and a vigorous civil society; we document and denounce murders, disappearances, torture, arbitrary imprisonment, discrimination, and other abuses of internationally recognized human rights. Our goal is to hold governments accountable if they transgress the rights of their people. Human Rights Watch began in 1978 with the founding of its Europe and Central Asia division (then known as Helsinki Watch). Today, it also includes divisions covering Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East. In addition, it includes three thematic divisions on arms, children=s rights, and women=s rights. It maintains offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, London, Brussels, Moscow, Dushanbe, Rio de Janeiro, and Hong Kong. Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. It accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly. The staff includes Kenneth Roth, executive director; Michele Alexander, development director; Reed Brody, advocacy director; Carroll Bogert, communications director; Cynthia Brown, program director; Barbara Guglielmo, finance and administration director; Jeri Laber special advisor; Lotte Leicht, Brussels office director; Patrick Minges, publications director; Susan Osnos, associate director; Jemera Rone, counsel; Wilder Tayler, general counsel; and Joanna Weschler, United Nations representative. Jonathan Fanton is the chair of the board. Robert L. Bernstein is the founding chair. The regional directors of Human Rights Watch are Peter Takirambudde, Africa; José Miguel Vivanco, Americas; Sidney Jones, Asia; Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia; and Hanny Megally, Middle East and North Africa. The thematic division directors are Joost R. Hiltermann, arms; Lois Whitman, children=s; and Dorothy Q. Thomas, women=s. The members of the board of directors are Jonathan Fanton, chair; Lisa Anderson, Robert L. Bernstein, William Carmichael, Dorothy Cullman, Gina Despres, Irene Diamond, Adrian W. DeWind, Fiona Druckenmiller, Edith Everett, James C. Goodale, Jack Greenberg, Vartan Gregorian, Alice H. Henkin, Stephen L. Kass, Marina Pinto Kaufman, Bruce Klatsky, Alexander MacGregor, Josh Mailman, Samuel K. Murumba, Andrew Nathan, Jane Olson, Peter Osnos, Kathleen Peratis, Bruce Rabb, Sigrid Rausing, Anita Roddick, Orville Schell, Sid Sheinberg, Gary G. Sick, Malcolm Smith, Domna Stanton, Maureen White, and Maya Wiley. Robert L. Bernstein is the founding chair of Human Rights Watch. CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................vii INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................ix I. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................1 Laws Punishing Contempt For Authority...............................................3 Prior Censorship6 Freedom to Inform and the Right to be Informed .................................................................................................8 Self-censorship.......................................................................................9 Government Reform Initiatives ............................................................11 Recommendations ................................................................................13 II. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND THE PRESS: A HISTORICAL BRIEFING ...........................................................................................16 Introduction..........................................................................................16 Public Debate and the Print Media Prior to 1970.................................19 Freedom of expression and public order................................22 Trench Warfare: The Press Under the Popular Unity Government (1970- 1973) 24 Freedom of Expression Under the Military (1973-1990).....................28 Attacks on the opposition press..............................................32 The Negotiated Transition....................................................................33 The Press in the Transition to Democracy............................................37 III. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN CHILEAN LEGISLATION ................40 The Weakness of Constitutional Protection of Freedom of Expression ....................................................................41 Basic protections....................................................................42 Defamation and the right to honor and privacy......................45 Contempt of Authority Laws ................................................................48 Offenses to the armed forces..................................................53 Press Regulation and Access to Information ........................................57 Information denied.................................................................61 Reporting bans .......................................................................64 Steps towards a new regime on press freedom and access to information ..............................................................69 IV. RESTRICTIONS ON FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PUBLIC DEBATE (1990-1998).........................................................................73 Introduction: The Public Debate ..........................................................73 Government Policy on Freedom of Expression....................................77 Silencing Critics: Military Justice and Sedition Charges.....................78 Espionage or whistle-blowing? ..............................................81 Corruption in the military hospital .........................................83 Retaliation against human rights lawyer Héctor Salazar ........85 Dissent in the uniformed police .............................................86 Contempt for Authority: Prosecutions Under the Law of State Security ...................................88 The honor of Congress: the Cuadra case................................93 The price of irreverence: the Cosas case...............................98 A Question of Honor: Prior Censorship By the Judiciary ..................101 The banning of Diplomatic Impunity ...................................102 An exception: the case of the poisoned cakes .....................107 Censorship as a precautionary measure................................109 National Security in the Palamara case ..............................................111 Autonomy and Political Influence in the State-Owned Media ...........113 Pressures on La Nación........................................................116 Limits to pluralism on TVN.................................................120 The Townley interview..........................................123 Editorial policy during the Frei government..........125 V. FILM CENSORSHIP .................................................................................130 History and Legal Norms ...................................................................130 The CCC: An Undemocratic Body in Democracy ............................136 The Last Temptation of Christ .............................................137 Proposals for Reform .........................................................................142 VI. THE REGULATION OF TELEVISION ..................................................145 Chilean Television: From Dictatorship to Democracy.......................145