Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Asks Maduro to Cease Harassment of the Media

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Asks Maduro to Cease
Harassment of the Media / Luis Felipe Rojas
Posted on September 1, 2015

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) reacted with
"profound concern" to the lawsuit filed by the President of the National
Assembly, deputy Diosdado Cabello,against the newspapers El Nacional and
Tal Cual, and the website LaPatilla.com. It urged national authorities
to "cease these acts of harassment that deepen the deterioration of the
right to freedom of expression in the country and threaten the media and
critical journalists in Venezuela," particularly in an election year.

The case that Cabello filed against the media, and the judicial
decisions that several judges have rendered in it—like the one
prohibiting 22 executives of the defendant companies from leaving the
country, or the one last week seizing the headquarters of El
Nacional—worry the CIDH, a body that is aware of the support that the
Supreme Court (TSJ) gave the legislator last May when it described as
"lacking foundation" the accusations that he was linked to drug
trafficking, as had been reported in Spanish and U.S. media, in stories
that were republished in the country by the defendants.

"This current situation is aggravated by a public statement unfavorable
to the media outlets, issued by the Supreme Court, the highest judicial
authority in Venezuela, about the factsunderlying the complaint, and
which would be considered by a lower court. On its website the Court
expressed its solidarity with the President of the National Assembly of
Venezuela, and without due process ora hearing by the lower court
handling the case, advanced its opinion that the disclosure of such
information 'lacking truthfulness carries sanctions under national
law,'" said the Commission.

The organization, in a letter also signed by the Rapporteur for Freedom
of Expression, Edison Lanza, demanded that the authorities cease their
attacks against the media, both verbal and judicial, in order to ensure
that the legislative elections scheduled for December 6 are transparent.

"The Commission and the Special Rapporteur consider that in the context
of an election year, faced with a reduction of pluralistic news
reporting, and diminishing independent media, it is urgent to stop
the verbal and judicial harassment that restricts the free flow of ideas
and opinions. In this context, the concerted state actions aimed at
encircling those media that havean editorial line independent or
critical of the government are of special concern to the Commission and,
in turn, represent a very significant threat to independent journalism
andinvestigation, to freedom of expression, and to the free flow of
information publicly available in Venezuela ahead of the elections to be
held in December 2015."

Source: El Universal

Source: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Asks Maduro to Cease
Harassment of the Media / Luis Felipe Rojas | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/inter-american-commission-luis-felipe-rojas/