Freedom of Expression
Nicaragua
Threats and Attacks
1. On August 1, 2001, Eloísa Ibarra from the daily El Nuevo Diario was assaulted by President Arnoldo Alemán. The journalist reports that while asking the president about the famine affecting the north and northeast of the country, he squeezed her wrist violently and called her an “unrepentant Sandinista.” In a press release the president’s office denied these allegations and accused El Nuevo Diario of pursuing “an odious smear campaign against the president and government officials.”[1]
Intimidation
2. On June 29, 2001, the newspaper El Nuevo Diario denounced the suspension, by the government, of all official advertising since the middle of June. According to the paper, the authorities also ordered the cancellation of several subscriptions maintained by ministries and public agencies. According to the information provided, these measures were in response to the paper’s critical stance and its constant denunciations of corruption. It was also claimed that the state, by means of the government-run Canal 6, had called upon the population to refrain from buying El Nuevo Diario and instead purchase a newspaper with an editorial line more in tune with the government. As a result of these measures, El Nuevo Diario has been forced to reduce its purchases of newsprint and the number of its pages.[2]
3. Protecting broad freedom of expression requires that states do not restrict it through indirect measures that prevent the media from performing their duty of providing information. States must not use public funds to manipulate media contents, such as by using the official advertising budget in a discriminatory fashion and rewarding those media outlets that uphold a pro-government line.[3]
[1] The Rapporteur’s office was informed about this incident in a letter from the Nicaraguan Human Rights Center (CENIDH). The incident was also reported by Reporters without Borders.
[2] The Rapporteur’s office was informed about these events in a letter from the Nicaraguan Human Rights Center (CENIDH). It was also reported by Reporters without Borders and the Inter American Press Association.
[3] See the thirteenth principle of the Declaration.