Freedom of Expression
Press Release R19/16
Report on the Human Rights situation in Honduras
Conclusions and Recommendations Made by the IACHR and its Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression on the Situation Over the Right to Freedom of Expression in Honduras
February 23, 2016
Washington, D.C. – On the occasion of the publication of the "human rights situation in Honduras" report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression highlights those recommendations related to ensuring the exercise of the right to freedom of expression, with the purpose of assisting the state of Honduras in strengthening its efforts to respect and guarantee that right in their jurisdiction.
On the report published on February 18, 2016, the IACHR and the Office of the Special Rapporteur noted the serious situation of violence in which journalists and media communicators are for exercising freedom of expression, making them a particularly vulnerable group in the population. According to official figures, between 2003 and 2014, 50 journalists and media workers were killed in Honduras. Most of these crimes remain unpunished, preventing to determine if there is a connection with the victims’ informative work and has hindered the identification and conviction of material perpetrators and masterminds.
The IACHR and its Office of the Special Rapporteur have also highlighted the progress in the investigations of the killings of journalists Anibal Barrow, Alfredo Villatoro and Héctor Francisco Medina Polanco, as well as media worker Carlos Hilario Mejía Orellana. The IACHR encourages the State to proceed with the identification and the conviction of the intellectual perpetrators of these crimes. In this regard, the Commission stresses the need to create special investigation protocols requiring the definition and exhaustion of criminal theories related to the assaulted individual’s exercise of their profession. The omission of logical avenues of investigation or lack of diligence in the gathering of evidence in this respect can have a serious impact on the development of proceedings at the indictment or trial stages, especially in the identification of masterminds.
In this regard, the Commission and the Office of the Special Rapporteur noted with satisfaction the adoption of the Law on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, Media Workers, and Justice Operators [Ley de protección para las y los defensores de derechos humanos, periodistas, comunicadores sociales y operadores de justicia] in April 2015, which provides the State with a clear legal framework for the adoption of effective and appropriate measures in this area, representing a significant improvement over the pre-existing situation. The report recommends the State to strengthen its efforts for the law's effective implementation.
Moreover, the report warns of the increasing use of legal actions related to the exercise of freedom of expression, particularly of criminal actions of defamation in Honduras. According to the information received, these criminal figures are used to censor critical expressions referred to public officials and public affairs, thus disproportionately affecting the work of journalists and human rights defenders. In this regard, the IACHR and the Office of the Special Rapporteur urged to reform the Criminal Code to decriminalize libel, slander and defamation.
The high concentration of ownership and control of the media in Honduras was also an object of consideration in this report. The Commission and its Office of the Special Rapporteur warned over a disturbing trend when it comes to the acquisition of major media outlets through transnational capital and the control over small media outlets by political leaders who reproduce ideological content and concentrate the message. The report recommends the State ensure, through legislation, transparent, public and equal criteria for assigning radio frequencies in the new digital dividend. These criteria must consider media outlet control and ownership concentration, and assign broadcasting administration to a body with political and economic independence, subject to due process and judicial review.
Also, the report displays the procedural deficiencies and flaws in the process of assigning frequencies to community media outlets and the need to have these regulations adopted as law, in its formal and tangible sense.
During the in loco visit to Honduras, the IACHR and its Office of the Special Rapporteur noted with satisfaction the measures taken by the State for the effective implementation of the Law on Access to Public Information [Ley de Acceso a la Información Pública], and encouraged the authorities to provide the Instituto de Acceso a la Información Pública (IAIP) with sufficient human, economic and material resources, as well as guaranteed independence for the Commissioners. Notwithstanding the significant progress observed, the report warns of the incompatibility of the Law for Classification of Public Documents related to Security and National Defense [Ley para la Clasificación de Documentos Públicos Relacionados con la Seguridad y Defensa Nacional] published in the Official Gazette in 2014, which imposes disproportionate restrictions on the right to information of national security interests. In the report the State was recommended to revise this regulation, in accordance with the principles of the Law on Access to Public Information [Ley de Acceso a la Información Pública] and the international standards in this matter.
The report accounts the progress made by the State to ensure the effective enjoyment and the universal right to freedom of expression on the Internet. In this regard, the IACHR encourages the Honduran State to continue to adopt in a progressive manner the positive measures of universal inclusion of the population to the Internet and information technology.
The report accentuates, however, the importance of protecting the right to privacy and freedom of expression of the people in the digital world. Thus, it calls upon the State to revise the Special Law for the Intervention of Private Communications [Ley Especial para la Intervención de las Comunicaciones Privadas], particularly the clause that imposes the providers of communication services, the obligation to "keep the data on all connections of each user for the period of 5 years". In that regard, the Special Rapporteurs of the UN, OSCE, OAS and African Commission have affirmed that "requirements to retain or practices of retaining personal data on an indiscriminate basis for law enforcement or security purposes are not legitimate."
Based on these findings and recommendations, the Office of the Special Rapporteur encourages the State to continue to strengthen its efforts to ensure the full exercise of the right to freedom of expression in the country, and in particular, to ensure the safety of journalists and media workers and eradicate the impunity in which these crimes remain in Honduras.
In the following link you can find the conclusions and recommendations made by the Commission and its Office of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of the right to freedom of expression in Honduras, which is part of the Country Report recently published.
The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression was created by the IACHR to encourage the defense of the right to freedom of thought and expression in the hemisphere, given the fundamental role this right plays in consolidating and developing the democratic system.
R19/16