The event “Forging a future of rights: Latest initiatives for the protection of journalists in Latin America and the Caribbean” held on 1 May together with the Society of Correspondents in Latin America and the Caribbean (SOCOLAC) provided first-hand knowledge of the main challenges in the field and how various actors and institutions are working to ensure better conditions for journalistic work. The Representative of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Deputy Nathalie Castillo, highlighted the consensus and rapid progress of the “Model Law for the protection of journalists and people working in communications” that is being processed in the Chilean Parliament.
Cristina Zahar, Executive Secretary, ABRAJI (Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism), Brazil, presented actions and recommendations in view of the worrying results of the monitoring carried out by this organisation during the previous government’s term of office, when the number of attacks on journalists in Brazil quadrupled.
In the regional panorama, countries such as Colombia and Paraguay present worrying figures of violence against journalists, and in the discussion, the Colombian journalist Ginna Morelo, as well as the Coordinator of the Roundtable for the Safety of Journalists in Paraguay, José María Costa, presented the strategies to fight against it. The panellists agreed that women journalists are especially exposed to a higher risk of suffering violence, both online and offline, because of their gender, a topic that was also discussed in depth by Alejandra Negrete, Expert on Gender and Freedom of Expression.
Eduardo Bertoni, Representative of the Regional Office for South America of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, presented the recent publication produced with UNESCO, “Intervention and Interaction Model Protocol for Security Forces regarding Journalists, Communicators and Media“, the result of several consultation processes with journalists, academics and representatives of civil society, as well as the security forces of at least eight countries in the region.
The closing remarks were made by SOCOLAC President Mauricio Weibel, who stressed the importance of “sharing ideas for action” in the face of multiple and diversified violence against journalists, and raised the urgent need to scale up legal initiatives on the safety of journalists at regional and global level. Ricardo Rivas, Vice President and Executive Director of SOCOLAC, moderated the panel.
