Ecuador's Edward Snowden Problem [View all]

[struggle4progress]

Embracing the on-the-run leaker will draw attention to President Rafael Correa's dismal record on press freedom and transparency.
By David Corn
Mon Jun. 24, 2013 12:15 PM PDT

... The law would essentially allow Correa's government to criminalize journalism that inconveniences the president and his allies. HRW points out that human rights advocates generally oppose granting government the power to charge journalists with a crime for publishing derogatory information about public figures: "International bodies from the Inter-American, European, and United Nations human rights systems have long criticized the use of criminal charges to respond to media allegations made against public officials, as contrary to the interest of promoting vibrant public debate necessary in a democratic society." But that's what Correa's party has sought to do. Vivanco puts it this way: "Giving the government the power to decide whether or not information is 'truthful' will open the door to unlawful censorship. This is an especially alarming provision in a country where the president has a track record of using his powers to target critics in the press."

This is not Correa's first stab at media intimidation. In July 2011, an Ecuadorean court sentenced a reporter for El Universo, a newspaper based in Guayaquil, and three members of the paper's board to three years in prison for defamation because the paper criticized Correa. The reporter, Emilio Palacio, had written an opinion piece that referred to the president as a "dictator" for having considered pardoning people involved in a police rebellion that included an attack on a hospital. The criminal case was triggered by a defamation suit filed by Correa.

With the suit and the recent law, Correa has shown he's no fan of a free media and a vibrant national debate—at least not when he and his actions might be the focus. In its most recent ranking of international press freedoms, Reporters Without Borders scored Ecuador toward the bottom: "Ecuador fell 15 places to 119th after a year of extreme tension between the government and leading privately-owned media." In its annual report on Ecuador, Amnesty International notes that "there were concerns that laws dealing with the crime of insult were being used against journalists in violation of the right to freedom of expression and could deter other critics of government authorities from speaking out" and that "indigenous and community leaders faced spurious criminal charges aimed at restricting their freedom of assembly." And HRW has also assailed Correa for not respecting the due process rights of asylum seekers. (Snowden's standing as a persecuted refugee is far from certain.) ...

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/06/edward-snowden-ecuador-rafael-correa