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Chilean Congress Repeals "Disrespect" Statute
By The Comittee
to Protect Journalists
New York,
April 20, 2001 — The Chilean Senate unanimously repealed several
provisions of the country's infamous State Security Law, including
one (Article 6b) that makes it a crime against public order
to insult high officials.
First
proposed eight years ago, the new "Law on Freedoms of Opinion
and Information and the Practice of Journalism," known as
the "Press Law," passed the Chamber of Deputies on April 10.
The Senate approved the bill on April 18.
After
review by the Constitutional Tribunal, President Ricardo Lagos
must sign the bill for it to become law. The president is
expected to do so next week.
Besides
Article 6b, local sources say, the bill repeals several other
articles of the 1958 State Security Law, including Article
16, which authorizes the suspension of publications and broadcasts,
as well as the immediate confiscation of publications deemed
offensive, and Article 17, which extends criminal liability
to the editors and printers of the offending publication.
Under
the new law, civilian courts, not military courts, would hear
defamation cases brought against civilians by members of the
military.
In addition,
the legislation repeals the 1967 Law on Publicity Abuses,
under which judges may ban press coverage of court proceedings.
The bill also guarantees the right to professional confidentiality
and the protection of sources.
Unfortunately,
the bill does not remove all "disrespect" (desacato)
provisions from Chile's legal system. The Penal Code, for
instance, contains several articles that make it a crime to
insult public officials. Chilean law also imposes criminal
liability for libel and slander.
Even so,
the repeal of Article 6b is a significant improvement. The
Penal Code's "disrespect" provisions give defendants more
legal protection than Article 6b, according to Chilean lawyers
interviewed by CPJ.
"While
we are encouraged by the new Press Law, CPJ believes that
journalists should never be jailed for their work, and that
public officials should not be allowed to shield themselves
from criticism by wielding criminal defamation statutes,"
said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. "We urge Chilean legislators
to take this victory for press freedom further by eliminating
all forms of criminal defamation from the legal system."
The bill
was passed shortly after the 111th session of the Washington-based
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), held in
Santiago de Chile at the request of the Chilean government.
During
the session, IACHR representatives met with Chilean officials
to express their concerns about the State Security Law and
other legal restrictions on freedom of expression in the country.
Local
media also credit President Lagos with reviving the bill by
returning an earlier version of the bill to Congress with
amendments aimed at achieving consensus on the most controversial
items.
Vindication
for Matus?
If the new bill becomes law, all pending "disrespect" cases
filed under Article 6b of the State Security Law will become
void, which would allow exiled Chilean journalist Alejandra
Matus to return to Chile without risking detention.
Matus
faces criminal defamation charges in Chile stemming from the
April 1999 publication of The Black Book of Chilean Justice,
her muckraking investigation of the Chilean judiciary. Her
case began on April 14, 1999, when Santiago Appeals Court
judge Rafael Huerta banned her book one day after it was published.
The ban was imposed in response to a suit filed by Supreme
Court justice Servando Jordán under Article 6b of the State
Security Law.
On March
23, 2001, CPJ submitted an amicus curiae brief to the IACHR
in the Matus case, arguing that "public order" is threatened,
not promoted, by the criminalization of defamation and that
government officials should have no special protection from
criticism.
The brief,
which was prepared by the New York firm of Debevoise & Plimpton
on behalf of CPJ, specifically recommended the repeal of Article
6b.
English
and Spanish versions of the brief are currently available
on CPJ's Web site (http://www.cpj.org).).
The Committee to Protect Journalists is a
nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to the defense
of press freedom everywhere. For more information about the
work of CPJ, including information about attacks on journalists
worldwide, visit http://www.cpj.org.
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