(Santiago, March 10, 2005) - Chile should reform its criminal and military justice codes to eliminate provisions that criminalize speech that is disrespectful of public authorities, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the chair of a Senate committee due to reconsider the issue this month.
After a two-and-a-half year debate in the legislature, a government bill to eliminate the crime of "disrespect" entirely from Chilean laws is now entering the final stage of discussion in the Senate. During its passage through Congress the bill has been significantly weakened. On Monday the government presented amendments in the Senate aimed at restoring the provisions of the original bill.
In a letter to Senator Alberto Espina, chair of the committee considering the reforms, Human Rights Watch urged the committee to take into account Chile's international legal obligations to fully protect free speech.
"Chile could become one of the first Latin American nations to eliminate these anachronistic and repressive laws," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for Human Rights Watch. "The government should use its leadership to obtain the complete and early repeal of these laws which restrict free expression."
In January, the Senate Committee of Constitution, Legislation, Justice and Regulation rejected several of the free expression reforms that the government presented to Congress in 2002. A majority of the committee voted to preserve provisions that can lead to the prosecution of critics of the armed forces and the police.
"Hopefully the Chilean Congress will finally reject these vestiges of authoritarianism that protect civilian and military officials from the legitimate public scrutiny that is proper to a democracy," Vivanco said.
The government proposed a bill to repeal disrespect provisions in August 2002 after a television panelist, Eduardo Yáñez, was jailed and convicted for "insulting" the Chilean Supreme Court. Although the government assigned legislative priority to the bill, it has now been in debate by Congress for two and a half years. The legislature has finally agreed in principle to repeal article 263 of the criminal code, which makes it a criminal offense to "gravely offend by word or deed" the president, members of congress and the higher courts.
So far, however, Congress has been unwilling to accept a government proposal to abolish the crime of "offending or insulting" the armed forces or its members (article 284 of the Code of Military Justice). Moreover, the Senate committee disagreed with the government's proposal to eliminate from the Code of Military Justice a provision that allows military courts to prosecute civilians for "seditious" speech that "stirs up disorder or discontent" in military or police ranks (article 276).
Human Rights Watch also questioned the retention of a provision in the criminal code that outlaws expressions that may be considered threats by public officials in exercise of their office. Congress should correct the language of this provision to avoid it being invoked by officials affected by expressions they consider damaging to suppress public debate.
In its letter to Senator Espina, Human Rights Watch noted that the committee had apparently ignored the recommendations on military justice from the U.N. Human Rights Committee and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Both have recommended that Chile end military jurisdiction over crimes committed by civilians.
"Repeal of these disrespect laws can only strengthen Chilean democracy and foster accountable leadership," Vivanco said.
