[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 536 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 536

Supporting freedom of the press in Latin America and the Caribbean and 
      condemning violations of press freedom and violence against 
   journalists, bloggers, and individuals exercising their right to 
                           freedom of speech.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 19, 2015

Mr. Sires (for himself, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Engel, and Mr. Duncan of 
South Carolina) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
                  to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Supporting freedom of the press in Latin America and the Caribbean and 
      condemning violations of press freedom and violence against 
   journalists, bloggers, and individuals exercising their right to 
                           freedom of speech.

Whereas despite the strong tradition of independent and critical media in many 
        countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, journalists in some 
        countries are becoming increasingly vulnerable to violence and 
        government harassment;
Whereas, on July 29, 2015, the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee convened a 
        hearing titled ``Threats to Press Freedom in the Americas'' and Carlos 
        Lauria, Senior Americas Program Coordinator at the Committee to Protect 
        Journalists stated that ``Scores of journalists have been killed and 
        disappeared. Media outlets have been bombed and forced into censorship. 
        . . . Censorship due to violence in Latin America has reached one of its 
        highest points since most of the region was dominated by military rule 
        more than three decades ago.'';
Whereas in 2014, Cuban authorities detained 1,817 members of civil society, 31 
        of whom were independent journalists;
Whereas in Cuba, independent journalists face sustained harassment, including 
        detention and physical abuse from the Castro regime;
Whereas in Ecuador, in September 2015, the government took steps to close the 
        sole press freedom monitoring organization, Fundamedios, for exceeding 
        its corporate charter, but the government relented in the face of 
        international criticism and potential economic reprisals, demonstrating 
        the value of resolutions such as this;
Whereas in the country, forced corrections by the government have become a means 
        of institutional censorship;
Whereas according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Mexico is one of the 
        most dangerous countries in the world for the press;
Whereas in Mexico, over 50 journalists have been killed or have disappeared 
        since 2007, at least 11 reporters have been killed since 2011, 4 of them 
        in direct reprisal for their work;
Whereas according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 4 
        journalists have been killed in Brazil in 2015, many times after being 
        tortured and having their bodies mutilated;
Whereas Evany Jose Metzker, a political blogger in the state of Minas Gerais who 
        had been investigating a child prostitution ring, was found decapitated 
        outside the town of Padre Paraiso;
Whereas according to the Organization of American States (OAS) 2014 Annual 
        Report of the Inter-American Commission on Human rights, journalists 
        covering protests in Venezuela were subject to assaults, obstruction, 
        detention, raids, threats, censorship orders, and confiscation or 
        destruction of equipment;
Whereas, on April 21, 2015, a lawsuit within the 29th District Tribunal of the 
        Metropolitan area of Caracas charged the journal El Nacional and its 
        Chief Editor Miguel Henrique Otero for ``reproducing false information'' 
        and was forced to flee Venezuela;
Whereas the Honduran national human rights commissioner reported that 8 
        journalists and social communicators were killed as of September, 
        compared with 3 in 2013, and dozens of cases in which journalists 
        reported being victims of threats and persecution;
Whereas according to the OAS 2014 Annual Report of the Inter-American Commission 
        on Human Rights Members of the media and nongovernmental organizations 
        (NGOs) stated the press ``self-censored'' due to fear of reprisal from 
        organized crime or corrupt government officials;
Whereas in Colombia, there were 98 incidents of violence and harassment against 
        journalists, 30 were physically attacked, and 45 were victims of 
        harassment or intimidation due to their reporting;
Whereas members of illegal armed groups sought to inhibit freedom of expression 
        by intimidating, threatening, kidnapping, and killing journalists;
Whereas national and international NGOs reported that local media 
        representatives regularly practiced self-censorship because of threats 
        of violence from these groups;
Whereas according to the OAS 2014 Annual Report of the Inter-American Commission 
        on Human rights, throughout 2014, Guatemala presented accounts of cases 
        of harassment and the filing of several criminal complaints against a 
        newspaper that criticized the Administration;
Whereas according to the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights 
        Practices for 2014 in Nicaragua, the government continued to use direct 
        and indirect means to pressure and seek to close independent radio 
        stations, allegedly for political reasons;
Whereas according to the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights 
        Practices for 2014 in Argentina, a survey released of 830 journalists 
        throughout the country indicated 53 percent of respondents worked for a 
        media outlet that self-censored content; and
Whereas almost half the journalists surveyed said they self-censored in their 
        reporting on the national government: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) supports a free press in Latin America and the 
        Caribbean and condemns violations of press freedom and violence 
        against journalists;
            (2) urges countries in the region to implement 
        recommendations from the Organization of American States' 
        Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression to 
        its Member States;
            (3) urges countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to 
        be vocal in condemning violations of press freedom, violence 
        against journalists, and the culture of impunity that leads to 
        self-censorship;
            (4) urges countries in Latin American and the Caribbean to 
        uphold the principles outlined in the Inter-American Democratic 
        Charter and urges their neighbors in the region to stand by the 
        charter they are a party to; and
            (5) urges the United States Agency for International 
        Development and the Department of State to assist, when 
        appropriate, the media in closed societies to promote an open 
        and free press.
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