Crimes against journalists: "Reality must challenge us. We cannot lower our guard, but rather commit ourselves even more."
José MarÃa Costa works as Director of Transparency and Access to Public Information for the Supreme Court of Justice in Paraguay, in addition to being a professor of Journalism and Information Law at the National University of Asunción. He is also a journalist, lawyer, doctor in Public Law and master in Global Politics.
Paraguay, like many Latin American countries, is one of the "silenced zones", which faces a harsh reality: the violence wielded against journalists and the little visibility about it, especially in border regions where organized crime becomes a strong threat that "gains ground and displaces the State".
The , promoted by UNESCO, has recently published a guide for the comprehensive protection of journalism practice in society, entitled: ,a work prepared with the participation of Paraguayanjournalists, lawyers and operators of the judicial system around the problem, and within the framework of the Project "Promoting the Safety of Journalists from the Public Prosecutor's Office", jointly promoted by the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Paraguay, the Bureau for the Safety of Journalists of Paraguay and the Association of Fiscal Agents of Paraguay.
UNESCO Montevideo interviewed José MarÃa Acosta, coordinator of the Table of Journalists in Paraguay, to expose the reality that this country is going through regarding this problem, in addition to sharing the main conclusions published in the comprehensive protection guide, in short, the central challenges that the region must face.
What motivated development of the guide for journalists’ safety in Paraguay and what is your role in this project?
In my capacity as coordinator of the Bureau – where I participate as a representative of the Supreme Court of Justice – I have had to manage the project with other colleagues, with the support of the Interdisciplinary Center for Social Law and Political Economy (CIDSEP) in 2020. We believe that the challenge of promoting journalists’ safety deserves to have reflection materials, resources, data and information on this reality as well as the expression of good practices on the subject, in order to strengthen state bodies’ capacity for preventing violence and protecting press workers. This project included training workshops for prosecutors, an international seminar and other reflection and institutional strengthening activities for the Bureau.
What are the main contributions of this collective work?
In the first place, there were spaces for learning, knowledge and joint reflection between State actors and leaders of journalists' guilds themselves about the best ways to face this problem. Secondly, under the project, the institutionalization of the Bureau for the Safety of Journalists of Paraguay has been strengthened, which thanks to this undertaking today has a strategic plan of action, has a website that serves as a communication clearinghouse, as well as a repository for follow-up on cases of violence against journalists, plus a book and an audiovisual on the situation of violence against journalists in Paraguay have been generated, to raise awareness, sensitize and train relevant actors on this issue.
Is there a particular situation in Paraguay compared to the rest of the region?
Paraguay is listed as one of the "silenced areas" where the practice of journalism faces serious risks, according to the IACHR's Office of the Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression. Specifically, the border between Paraguay and Brazil is the most dangerous, where even many murders of journalists have happened.
From 1991 to 2020, there were 19 murders of journalists and social communicators in the country.
The first of these in that series, that of Santiago Leguizamón, in 1991, which occurred in the border city of Pedro Juan Caballero, is even currently driving a complaint by the IACHR against the Paraguayan State for the lack of justice in the case. The latest in that series of crimes has also occurred in Pedro Juan Caballero, in February 2020, when Brazilian journalist Leo Veras was gunned down, a crime that is still under investigation.
However, there are some signs of hope. In the crime against the journalist Pablo Medina, justice acted efficiently and the people who were found as material and intellectual culprits of the homicide were convicted.
It is one of the few convictions in the world, especially of a party planning the murder, in this case, a politician from the area where the journalist served and whose investigations aimed to expose that border mafia of drug trafficking and contraband.
How is Latin America and the Caribbean doing around this problem?
The reality in the region is very worrying. Several countries, such as Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala and Paraguay itself, have high levels of risk and attacks on journalists. The protection mechanisms implemented help to try to face this problem, but they still require greater strength and capacity.
Organized crime is gaining ground and in many cases displacing the capacity and presence of the State.
Entire areas in various regions and countries are not under State control but under the law of organized crime, usually based on drug trafficking. Therefore, permanent, sustained work is necessary both to strengthen the commitment and capacity of States to provide security, and for society to understand that protecting journalistic work is an essential need for freedom of expression, the right to information in society. And consequently, so that we can strengthen democracy.
What resources have been applied in the rest of the world to mitigate this scourge?
In many countries, mainly in the Latin American region, so-called "protection mechanisms" for journalists have been promoted: in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala and other countries. In Paraguay we have a fairly original model, with a working group made up in a mixed way of State institutions and journalists' unions. This Paraguay Bureau for Journalists’ Safety is contributing, though underfunded, to promote protection and measures to address cases of attacks or crimes against journalists, but there is still much to be done, both in institutionalization, which should occur through a specific legal body, and in fund raising for more autonomous, efficient work.
What role does international cooperation play in addressing this problem?
A very important, effective role to help raise awareness, promote the strengthening of key bodies and stakeholders for the challenge of providing protection to journalists, as well as in generating, in authorities and society, all the necessary awareness and sensitization about this problem, which is key to defend democracy and its values, such as freedom of expression and the right to information.
The progress made in the joint work promoted by UNESCO with the Ibero-American Judicial Summit, which brings together the Courts of that entire region, as well as with the International Association of Prosecutors, has been relevant. To have generated training programs through the Ibero-American Network of Judicial Schools, with explicit content in this matter as well as in general matters associated with freedom of expression, as well as to have generated documents and instruments for reflection and action, recommendations and instructions for better management of these cases by judicial systems and officials, they are essential advances that are undoubtedly contributing to a better understanding, attention and approach to this problem. It also has the commitment and cooperation of other international organizations linked to promoting freedom of expression and the press, with programs worldwide that contributing to addressing this problem.
The challenge is to continue, to broaden the pathway, and to ensure that both the State and civil society increase capacities and efforts and acts so that journalism practice gains security and freedom in our countries, for the sake of democracy.
Are you optimistic about the possibility of reversing this cruel reality?
If optimism runs out, hope ends and work has no reason to be; the will and commitment lose meaning. We are obliged both to be optimistic and to be committed to that optimism, working, generating actions, motivating joint efforts, fostering virtuous alliances to face this challenge, which is everyone's, not only journalists, but authorities, civil society, all of us who believe that democracy is the lifestyle that can provide us with well-being and rights for all.
Reality must challenge us. We cannot lower our guard, nor feel overwhelmed, but commit ourselves even more. Free, safe, ethical journalism is fundamental to a democratic society. For this we must continue to fight, together, with will and intelligence.
