[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6011-6012]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN ECUADOR

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, May 3 was World Press Freedom Day. In 
this country, we recognize freedom of expression as our most cherished 
right. It forms the foundation for every other freedom, and an 
independent press is essential to its exercise. Yet in many countries 
expression is often censored and punished. Journalists are threatened, 
imprisoned, and killed for exposing official corruption and criticizing 
government repression. Not only is the media targeted and silenced, the 
entire population is denied access to accurate reporting.
  The Senate was in recess on May 3, but I would like to call other 
Senators' attention to troubling events that currently pose one of the 
gravest threats to freedom of expression in this hemisphere. I am 
speaking about the actions of Ecuador's President Rafael Correa and 
officials in his government to silence independent broadcasters and 
publishers and watchdog organizations, undermining the fundamental 
right of free expression in ways that resemble what we have come to 
expect in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
  There is no institution more fundamental to democracy than a free and 
independent press. A free press helps protect the rule of law, to 
ensure that no person or group is above the rules and procedures that 
govern a democratic society. A free press helps ensure transparency to 
prod governments to be honest and accountable to their citizens.
  Unfortunately, recent events in Ecuador suggest a deliberate shift 
away from these democratic traditions, and this could pose grave 
consequences for democracy in Ecuador.
  Although wavering at times, Ecuador has a history of democratic 
government of which its citizens can be proud. Ecuador's first 
Constitution, written in 1830, stipulated that ``every citizen can 
express their thoughts and publish them freely through the press.'' 
Ecuador's 1998 Constitution guarantees the right of journalists and 
social communicators to ``seek, receive, learn, and disseminate'' 
events of general interest, with the goal of ``preserving the values of 
the community.'' Even Ecuador's latest constitution, ratified just four 
years ago, protects each citizen's right ``to voice one's opinion and 
express one's thinking freely and in all of its forms and 
manifestations.'' However, it appears that these protections--a vital 
part of Ecuador's history of democratically elected, representative 
government--now only apply at the discretion of President Correa.
  During President Correa's term in office, the number of state-owned 
media

[[Page 6012]]

organizations has exploded--growing from just one government-run news 
outlet to a media conglomerate that today is made up of more than a 
dozen outlets. He has pursued criminal charges against columnists and 
newspaper owners, including legal actions aimed at El Universo, one of 
Ecuador's most respected newspapers. In the El Universo case, President 
Correa won a $42 million award, and several journalists were sentenced 
to 3 years in prison following a hearing before a temporary--and 
recently appointed--magistrate. Although President Correa later 
pardoned the journalists, an Ecuadoran court rejected his pardon, and 
their fates remain unresolved. The fear of being charged and dragged 
through the expensive legal system also silences many other journalists 
or compels them to temper criticism of the government.
  President Correa and his government are not only targeting 
journalists. Some 200 activists, many of them indigenous people 
protesting environmentally destructive mining projects, have been 
criminally charged and detained. The pattern of arresting or 
threatening to arrest social activists has suppressed the free flow of 
information in Ecuador, silencing dissenting voices either by legal 
action or self-censorship.
  Perhaps most insidious to the principles of democracy, President 
Correa's government has ushered in new reforms that could make illegal 
almost all reporting about electoral campaigns. All censorship is 
bruising to a democracy, but electoral censorship is a fatal blow. With 
Presidential elections occurring in Ecuador in the next year, there is 
growing concern that President Correa's actions represent an attempt to 
influence the democratic process to his own political and personal 
benefit.
  Dr. Catalina Botero, the special rapporteur for freedom of expression 
at the Organization of American States, OAS, has rightly criticized 
President Correa's crusade against the press. In response, President 
Correa has expanded his campaign of censorship beyond Ecuador's borders 
and targeted Dr. Botero's office, proposing to the OAS earlier this 
year a plan that would have restricted the ability of Dr. Botero's 
office to issue independent reports and cutting off some of its 
funding. Although the plan was rejected by the member states of the 
OAS, President Correa's intent remains clear. No longer content to 
silence his political opponents in Ecuador, he is now targeting his 
critics elsewhere.
  President Correa has tried to cloak his actions in populist 
vocabulary, declaring that his censorship is motivated by a desire to 
free the public from the corrupt interests of the business 
organizations that often ran newspapers before the establishment of a 
law forbidding anyone with a significant stake in a media company from 
owning other businesses. Challenging viewpoints expressed in the media 
of course is legitimate, common, and healthy in any society, but 
preventing those views from being heard is not.
  Mr. President, we should denounce attacks on the press in Ecuador and 
elsewhere in this hemisphere. We should strongly support Dr. Botero and 
her office. Protecting freedom of expression, a fundamental right 
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the American 
Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man is everyone's concern and 
responsibility. In doing so, we stand with the people of Ecuador and 
their right to be heard and for the future of their democracy.

                          ____________________