INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc. 5 4 March 2011 Original: Spanish AANNNNUUAALL RREEPPOORRTT OOFF TTHHEE IINNTTEERR--AAMMEERRIICCAANN CCOOMMMMIISSSSIIOONN OONN HHUUMMAANN RRIIGGHHTTSS 22001100 REPORT OF THE OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION Dr. Catalina Botero Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Approved by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on March 4, 2011 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2010 INDEX Page TABLE OF ACRONYMS AND REFERENCES....................................................................................................VII INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER I GENERAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................3 A. Creation of the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression and Institutional Support ........................................................................................ 3 B. Mandate of the Office of the Special Rapporteur ................................................. 6 C. Principal Activities of the Office of the Special Rapporteur.................................... 7 1. Individual Case System: Strategic Litigation on Freedom of Expression within the inter-American System ..............................................................................7 2. Precautionary Measures ..............................................................................................11 3. Public Hearings..............................................................................................................13 4. Official Visits..................................................................................................................13 5. Seminars and Workshops with Strategic Actors in the Region .........................15 6. Annual Report and development of expert knowledge........................................21 7. Special statements and declarations: using the bully pulpit...............................22 D. Staff of the Office of the Special Rapporteur .................................................... 24 E. Funding........................................................................................................ 25 CHAPTER II EVALUATION OF THE STATE OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN THE HEMISPHERE ....27 A. Introduction and methodology......................................................................... 27 B. Evaluation of the state of freedom of expression in the Member States................ 28 1. Argentina ........................................................................................................................28 2. Bahamas..........................................................................................................................37 3. Belize................................................................................................................................38 4. Bolivia ..............................................................................................................................39 5. Brazil ................................................................................................................................44 6. Canada ............................................................................................................................53 7. Chile.................................................................................................................................57 8. Colombia.........................................................................................................................61 9. Costa Rica ......................................................................................................................75 10. Cuba.................................................................................................................................77 11. Ecuador ...........................................................................................................................82 12. El Salvador......................................................................................................................94 13. United States .................................................................................................................96 14. Guatemala.....................................................................................................................105 15. Guyana ..........................................................................................................................108 16. Haiti................................................................................................................................109 17. Honduras.......................................................................................................................111 18. Jamaica.........................................................................................................................122 19. Nicaragua......................................................................................................................123 iii Page 20. Panama..........................................................................................................................125 21. Paraguay .......................................................................................................................130 22. Peru................................................................................................................................132 23. Dominican Republic....................................................................................................139 24. Suriname.......................................................................................................................143 25. Trinidad y Tobago.......................................................................................................143 26. Uruguay.........................................................................................................................143 27. Venezuela .....................................................................................................................145 28. Mexico: 2010 Special Report on Freedom of Expression in Mexico ..............183 29. Proposed Categories and Standards for the Special Country Reports of the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter- American Commission on Human Rights ..............................................................286 CHAPTER III ACCESS TO INFORMATION ON HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS ......................................311 The right of the victims of human rights violations to access information in state archives on such violations ........................................................................... 311 1. Do the victims of serious human rights violations or their relatives have the right to access information on such violations when it is in the archives of State security forces?................................................................................................311 2. The positive obligations of the State in relation to access to information on mass human rights violations...................................................................................317 3. The obligation to adapt States’ normative framework to international obligations ....................................................................................................................319 4. The Court’s judgment in the case of Gomes Lund et al (Guerrilha do Araguaia) v. Brazil and the right of access to information................................321 CHAPTER IV JUDICIAL BEST PRACTICE WITH RESPECT TO ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN THE AMERICAS ................................................................................................................................................324 A. Introduction ................................................................................................ 324 B. Judicial best practice with respect to human rights.......................................... 325 C. National Decisions that Constitute Judicial Best Practice with respect to Access to Information.................................................................................. 327 1. Case law on the nature and scope of the right of access to information as a fundamental autonomous right................................................................................327 2. Case law on universal entitlement to the right of access to information......330 3. Case law on the principle of maximum disclosure..............................................333 4. Case law on the application of the principle of maximum disclosure to order access to information on government advertising ..............................................334 5. Case law on access to information regarding the funding of political parties .......................................................................................................334 6. Case law on the right to know salaries or incomes paid from public funds..................................................................................................................335 7. Case law on the publicity of statistical data ........................................................336 8. Case law on