1997 World Press Freedom Review

Transcription

1 El Salvador Años

2 World Press Freedom Review The media world in the Central American nation of El Salvador was shaken by the murder of a well-known newsreader in August - the first since the end of the civil war in as well as physical attacks on a number of other journalists. The body of Maria Lorena Saravia - a 34-year-old divorced mother of two - was found dumped at a farm some 10 miles from the capital, San Salvador, on August 25. her body showed evident signs of violence and she had a bullet wound in the head, according to the police. Saravia had worked as a newsreader for the new radio station, Radio Corporation Salvadorena (RCN) - launched in November and also worked for another radio station, YSKL, and Channel 21 television. Despite the end of the civil war, during which more than 20 journalists were among the 75,000 people killed, threats - both physical and legal continue to hang over the press in El Salvador. On July 6, five journalists - Edwin Gongora, Miguel Gongora, Miguel Gonzalez and Carlos Rivas, from Channel 12 television s news programme, Hechos, and Ernesto Rivas, a reporter for the daily, El Diario de Hoy - were beaten up when they attempted to interview a businessman, Roberto Mathies Hill, accused of a multi-milliondollar fraud. El Diario de Hoy was targeted again soon afterwards, when a security guard was murdered near the newspaper offices. A few hours after the killing, the paper received calls threatening its security force with death. Julio Campos, a photo-journalist for the evening newspaper, El Diario Latino, was assaulted by private security guards when he tried to photograph the songwriter-singer, Big Boy, at a concert. The journalist s equipment was also destroyed in the attack. Apart from the physical violence against journalists, the greatest threat to press freedom in post-civil war El Salvador is the New Procedural Code. This includes measures to deny journalists access to certain phases of the legal process. Articles of the code - which goes into effect 2

3 1997 in leave it to the subjective discretion of individual judges to decide whether to keep certain trials under wraps. They also allow the police to refuse to disclose the identities of arrested parties. 3

4 World Press Freedom Review While the number of attacks on journalists has declined, press freedom in post-civil war El Salvador is still threatened, particularly by the new Criminal Code, which places restrictions on court reporting. El Salvador s increasingly professional print and broadcast journalists complain that the new penal code, which went into effect in 1998, includes measures which deny journalists access to certain phases of the legal process - leaving it up to the discretion of individual judges to limit public access to certain trials. The new law also allows the police to refuse to disclose identities of arrested parties. Many journalists also complain that government agencies continue to hinder press coverage of important events, and limit access to public records and information, despite promises to establish more openness. In January, officials of the Commission on Internal Affairs and Public Security shelved a request for an investigation into the July 6, 1997, attack on journalists by members of the police, IAPA reported. The journalists, including Edwin Góngora and Miguel González of Canal 12 television station and Ernestos Rivas of the daily El Diario de Hoy, were beaten up and their equipment damaged as they tried to interview businessman Roberto Mathies Hill, who was implicated in a fraud scandal. On February 16, ten individuals were arrested on suspicion of belonging to the Balta gang, accused of carrying out the August 25, 1997, murder of María Lorena Saravia, a well-known newsreader for the radio station, Radio Corporación Salvadoreña (RCS). According to IAPA, one arrest was made in Santa Ana and the nine others, including that of the alleged ringleader, Baltazar Heriberto Sánchez Majía, in San Salvador. The murder of Saravia - whose body was found at a farm some 10 miles from the capital, San Salvador - was the first killing of a journalist since the end of the civil war in The 34-year-old divorced mother of two had worked with the station since it began broadcasting in 1996, as well with YSKL radio and Canal 21 television. 4

5 World Press Freedom Review Apart from complaints about the lack of access to President Francisco Flores, who took office in June after winning El Salvador s second presidential election since the end of the country s 13-year civil war in 1992, the country s four daily newspapers, ten television stations, two cable TV systems, and approximately 150 licensed radio stations were generally allowed to operate freely in 1999, although journalists regarded the new penal code, which limits their access to the courts, as a serious threat to press freedom. President Flores rarely meets with journalists and then only after imposing strict conditions, including a requirement that they give advance notice of questions to be asked the president. Access to cabinet ministers is also difficult, journalists say. Journalists complained that the penal code allowed judges to close court proceedings and the police to keep the identity of people detained for certain crimes secret. According to journalists, the courts were using this authority in cases that were of evident public interest and did not merit the exclusion of the press. Article 272, for example, says: In general, penal proceedings will be public. However, the judge may order a partial or total press blackout when he deems, for valid reasons, that it is in the interest of good morals, public interest or national security, or is authorised in some specific rule. Article 273 says: Hearings will be public, but the court may order on its own authority or at the request of one of the parties that said hearings be partially or totally closed when required for reasons of good morals, public interest, national security or it is authorised by some specific rule. Article 243 prohibits the police from presenting detained people to journalists because it affects their good names and violates their right to due process. The 1997 murder of María Lorena Saravia, a well-known newsreader 5

6 1999 for the radio station, Radio Corporación Salvadoreña (RCS), remains unsolved. The slaying of Saravia, whose body was found at a farm some 10 miles from the capital, San Salvador, on August 25, 1997, was the first murder of a journalist since the end of the civil war. 6

7 World Press Freedom Review Despite a degree of freedom in El Salvador, the media faces a number of pressures that influence press freedom. In the past, broadcasting journalists have complained that advertising agencies have placed government announcements in those media which support government policy. Another worrying feature of every-day life in El Slavador is the threat of being kidnapped and journalists have not been immune from this practice. According to police statistics, over 50 individuals were reported kidnapped last year but this figure is not a true representation as many kidnaps go unreported due to fear of reprisals. In April, Rene Tamsen, a reporter covering the political violence in San Salvador for the local radio station WHUR-FM, disappeared. According to reports, one week later, he was seen in a Salvadoran prison. Tamsen s colleagues at the radio station believe that Tamsen has been imprisoned by the government and security forces of El Salvador. Responding to the probable imprisonment of Tamsen, a group of protestors held a rally outside the White House in Washington to demand that the 28-year-old Tamsen be freed. Prior to his disappearance, Tamsen had been reporting on the killings of Salvadoran peasants, children and liberal government officials by some members of the Salvadoran armed forces allied to rightwing extremists. In a live report from Tamsen in January, gunfire could be heard in the background in what Tamsen described as attacks by the military on civilians in the street. In July, Reuters issued a press release which stated that Jorge Zedan, the 60-year-old co-owner of Canal 12 television station, had been freed after being kidnapped and held for five days. Zedan, who is also a partner in the telecommunications firm Saltel, was kidnapped by masked armed men while travelling with his chauffeur. Canal 12 director Mauricio Funes told reporters that a ransom had been paid to Zedan s captors. Funes read the family s statement on the TV network, which is an affiliate of Mexico s TV Azteca. 7