(New York) - The Chilean government's decision to give urgent attention to draft legislation on free expression reform represents a major stride toward opening up the public debate, Human Rights Watch said today.
The government of President Ricardo Lagos announced that it would give "urgency" to a pending bill to repeal the country's desacato (insult) laws.
The bill, which the government presented to the Chilean Congress last month, eliminates desacato laws from the criminal code and code of military justice. By according the bill "urgency," the government is ensuring that the bill will be discussed during the current congressional session, the final one before the legislature's long summer recess.
"The Chilean government's decision to expedite congressional review of this bill is extremely encouraging," said José Miguel Vivanco, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch's Americas division. "It indicates that the government recognizes the importance of allowing full and fair public debate of matters of public policy."
On October 8, Human Rights Watch wrote to President Lagos congratulating him on the bill's presentation before Congress, while urging him to give it urgent attention. Giving the bill urgency, the letter argued, "would demonstrate once again the high importance your government attaches to an open public debate and its continued commitment to ensuring that Chile's legislation complies with international norms on freedom of expression."
In the letter, Vivanco noted that earlier freedom expression reforms had been held up for years in Congress before their enactment last year.
The reform bill would amend several articles of the criminal code and the code of military justice that penalize strongly-worded criticism of government authorities, including the president, members of Congress, senior judges, and members of the armed forces. It would repeal article 263 of the criminal code, under which television panelist Eduardo Yáñez was arrested and prosecuted in January for criticisms of the judiciary expressed in a television debate about miscarriages of justice.
In April 2001, the Lagos government repealed a provision of the State Security Law that barred criticism of public authorities. Using that provision, more than thirty journalists and politicians had been prosecuted for criticizing military leaders, congressmen, and judges since Chile reinstated democratic rule in 1990.
Last year's reforms, however, failed to repeal all of the insult provisions of Chilean law, which are classified as offenses against public order and security.
