The Tico Times Online Daily Page

U.S. Report Criticizes
Costa Rican Press Freedom
By Robert Goodier
Tico Times Staff
rgoodier@ticotimes.net

Freedom of the press in Costa Rica bore the brunt of criticism from the U.S. State Department in the department's annual Human Rights Report released Monday, but this country faired better overall than the usual Latin American suspects, Cuba, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

On Costa Rica, the report stated, “ The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in a few areas.” One is press freedom, the reports states, “with some journalists practicing self-censorship to avoid accusations of libel, defamation and the associated criminal penalties involved if convicted of such crimes.”

The report highlighted last year's ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in favor of journalist Mauricio Herrera, a reporter for the daily La Nación, convicted in 1999 for libel and defamation of character. The ruling declared the government in violation of two articles of the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights, and ordered it to make amends and reform its press laws "within a reasonable amount of time” (TT, Aug. 6, 2004).

Herrera had been convicted in a criminal court, given the choice of jail time or a stiff fine, and had to register himself as a criminal. La Nación was fined about $200,000 (TT, Nov. 19, 1999).

The report cites an August 2004 survey by La Nación that says 62% of journalists who responded said they had omitted information for fear of legal action, and 99% said they believed the nation's current, 102-year-old press laws are in dire need of reform.

It mentions the three journalists who were convicted in criminal courts last year, all from the Diario Extra, (TT Daily Page, Oct. 27, 2004). One was given a 30-day sentence and a fine for “tarnishing the image” of a school official, another was sentenced to 10 days and fined for publishing an altered photo of television models, and a third was sentenced to 50 days and fined after publishing a story that accused a government official of misusing public funds.

Headway was made into the investigation into the murder of journalist Parmenio Medina last year when nine men were formally charged with crimes related to the murder (TT, Dec. 10, 2004). “At year's end, police continued to investigate the case… and individuals charged during 2003 remained in detention pending trial,” the report states, which hedges on another contention it had with Costa Rica: the court system is lagging on too many cases.

It mentions the case of the gossip and semi-nude photo magazine Chavespectáculos, which was shut down by the Justice Ministry's Office of Control and Rating of Public Displays for failing to pay fines incurred for the owner's refusal to submit the magazine each month to the office for approval prior to printing. The office argued it was pornographic and should be accordingly packaged (TT, May 28, 2004).

Meanwhile, Costa Rica ranks 35th of the 167 nations included in Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) 2004 press-freedom index, released in October 2004, making it the second-highest-ranked Latin American country behind El Salvador (28th).

The United States ranked in 22nd place on the index with “violations of the privacy of sources, persistent problems in granting press visas and the arrest of several journalists during anti- (President George W.) Bush demonstrations,” according to the report (TT Daily Page, Oct. 27, 2004).

Other problem areas in Costa Rica's human rights record, the U.S. State Department report states, are domestic violence, which was a “serious problem,” and “traditional patterns of unequal opportunity for women.” It also mentions child abuse, child prostitution, child labor and human trafficking, in spite of efforts to alleviate those problems.

There was also some abuse by police and prison guards, and penitentiary overcrowding remained a problem, the report stated.

In response to press questions yesterday about the report's criticisms, President Abel Pacheco answered, “Why do people always look for the black dot on the white wall?"

He pointed out the same report also praised Costa Rica for its anti-corruption efforts. He said it is “unfair” that the report criticized Costa Rica for overcrowded prisons, because huge improvements have been made by the Justice Ministry.