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The Oppenheimer Report, Miami Herald,  Monday, February 22, 1998

Andres Oppenheimer


Summit issue: a monitor for press freedom

Just when everybody thought that U.S. legislative hurdles to the
signing of new free trade agreements would turn the upcoming Summit of
the Americas into a monumental bore, a proposal to create a
hemispheric freedom of the press monitor may create a semblance of
excitement about the meeting.

The U.S.-backed idea, first proposed by independent press groups, is
being discussed between several governments and the Organization of
American States (OAS). It is likely to be announced when Clinton and
33 heads of government of the hemisphere meet at the Santiago, Chile,
summit in April.

A draft of the summit declaration shown to me last week calls for
``supporting the activities of the [OAS] Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights, including giving consideration to additional action
measures'' to defend freedom of the press.

Clinton administration officials say the draft will be updated with a
specific proposal to create a ``special rapporteur'' or ombudsman for
freedom of the press, who would investigate unpunished crimes against
journalists and issue annual reports on each country's treatment of
the press.

State Department officials say they would provide funding for the new
office. They say an OAS ombudsman would have more political clout than
existing press associations and could even take cases to the
Inter-American Court of Justice.

Granted, the OAS is seen by many in Washington as a retirement home
for former Latin American officials, which rarely gets things done.
But the organization's decisions are not taken lightly in Latin
American capitals.

The problem is that U.S. officials want the new job to be held by an
independent ombudsman appointed by the seven-member OAS Commission on
Human Rights, while commission members would like total control over
the new office.

U.S. officials say an independent, full-time ombudsman would be more
effective than one who reports to the commission, whose members work
part time and meet once in a while. OAS officials fear that an
independent ombudsman could follow a personal political agenda.

And some skeptics wonder whether Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Argentina,
where authorities have been criticized for not solving attacks against
journalists, would try to silently sabotage the proposed office while
publicly celebrating its creation.

But independent press groups say an OAS press ombudsman could become
an unprecedented tool for freedom of expression, among other things by
launching probes into the murders of Argentine photographer Jose Luis
Cabezas, Colombia's El Espectador Publisher Guillermo Cano, and
Mexico's Diario de Juarez columnist Victor Manuel Oropeza.

According to the Inter-American Press Association, 188 Latin American
journalists have been killed for their writings during the past nine
years. Ninety-five percent of the cases remain unsolved -- enough to
keep the future ombudsman busy for a few years.
___________________________________________________
Bruce Girard Boa         Agencia Informativa Pulsar
Email: bgirard@pulsar.org.ec
http://www.comunica.org/pulsar
Fono/Fax: +593-2-501180 Fax en Canada: +1-514-221-2009
Av. Atahualpa 333, Casilla 17-08-8489, Quito, Ecuador