Freedom of Expression

Brazil

PRINCIPLE 6 OF THE DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION (Compulsory membership in an association for the practice of journalism)

25.              In August, a legislative initiative proposed by professional organizations was sent for consideration to the Chamber of Deputies, which sought to oversee the activity of journalists and create a Federal Journalism Council and Regional Journalism Councils in the country’s 26 states. The councils proposed would have the authority to “orient, discipline, and oversee” the exercise of journalism, and to impose sanctions on those who exercised it “irresponsibly,” through warnings, fines, or suspension of professional registration for up to 30 days, or definitive expulsion. In addition, the proposal required that journalists be registered with the Council as a condition for exercising their profession. Nonetheless, the initiative was not well-received in Congress, where in November different parliamentary groups signed an agreement to vote on and squarely reject the proposal.[1]

PRINCIPLE 9 OF THE DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION (Murder, kidnapping, intimidation of and/or threats to social communicators and the material destruction of communications media)

 26.              This year once again journalists were murdered in Brazil. On April 24, 37-year-old journalist José Carlos Araujo, of Radio Timbaúba FM, was murdered. Araujo addressed police-related issues. On April 27, 2004, Helton Jonas Gonçalvez de Oliveira was arrested; he had reportedly confessed to the murder,[2] and had indicated that it was because Araujo had accused him, on his program José Carlos Entrevista, of being responsible for several crimes, which he denied.[3] On July 11, 2004, Jorge Lourenço dos Santos, owner and commentator on the radio station Criativa FM, was murdered in the state of Alagoas, in the Brazilian Northeast.[4] On his program, dos Santos criticized local politicians and businesspersons. He had received death threats and had been targeted in two prior assassination attempts. Dos Santos had also been involved in politics and had run for the local council in a neighboring community.[5]

 27.              On August 12, 2004, the daily A Crítica of Manaus, state of Amazonas, reported that its journalists had received death threats and had suffered persecution and intimidation. Among those impacted were the team made up of reporter Gerson Dantas, photographer Antônio Lima, and driver Ednelson Arruda.[6] The paper’s columnist Orlando Farias de Lima, editor-in-chief Taiza Brito, and other journalists also received death threats, after disseminating information on a police operation that culminated in the detention of several public officials and businesspersons.

PRINCIPLES 10 AND 11 OF THE DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION (Use of defamation laws by public officials, and desacato laws)

 28.              This year, the Office of the Special Rapporteur received information on a decision of July 6, 2004, by the Court of Appeals of Pará that confirmed a guilty judgment[7] against journalist Lúcio Flávio Pinto, director of the daily Jornal Pessoal of Belém, the capital of Pará. In 2000, Pinto published information criticizing a decision of a judge who brought the criminal action against him. Pinto appealed the decision to the same Court, but his appeal was rejected. Other remedies being pursued by Pinto may be analyzed in the Court of Appeals and in the Federal Supreme Court.[8] In previous reports, the Office of the Special Rapporteur has described proceedings against journalists who publish reports and criticisms of public officials, particularly those related to judicial decisions. These proceedings are possible due to the existence of criminal laws that may be invoked by public officials, and which could have a chilling effect for those who wish to participate in the free democratic debate. The Office of the Special Rapporteur urges Brazilian authorities to review this legislation in light of the standards established by the inter-American system.  

PRINCIPLE 13 OF THE DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION (Indirect violations of the freedom of expression)

 29.              In May 2004, the Office of the Special Rapporteur expressed its concern through a press release[9] regarding the case of journalist Larry Rohter, correspondent of the U.S. newspaper The New York Times, whose visa was cancelled on May 11, 2004, by the government of Brazil after he published information on certain personal conduct by the President of Brazil.[10] The newspaper’s attorneys sent a letter to the government, and on May 17, 2004, Minister of Justice Márcio Thomas Bastos revoked the decision and closed the case.[11]

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