Midyear Report on Limits to Freedom of Speech, Argentina 2012.

Fundación LED – Libertad de Expresión + Democracia (Freedom of Speech + Democracy) are pleased to send you a Midyear Report on Limits to Freedom of Speech, Argentina 2012. It presents a survey of the cases of limitations to the exercise of freedom of speech in Argentina recorded during the first half of 2012, whether direct attacks or intimidation of journalists, acts of censorship, attacks on the media, restrictions of access to public information or statements reflecting international concern about the situation in Argentina in this respect.

Hoping that the contents of the Midyear Report on Limits to Freedom of Speech, Argentina 2012 is of interest to you, we invite you to visit our website www.fundacionled.org for more information on our work.

Midyear Report on Limits to Freedom of Speech, Argentina 2012.

summary Executive Summary

This report by the Fundación LED – Libertad de Expresión + Democracia includes 161 events that constitute limitations to the exercise of Freedom of Speech during the first half of 2012 registered throughout the country.

Fundación LED – Libertad de Expresión + Democracia is a nonprofit institution dedicated to the protection of human rights, defense of freedom of expression, generation of citizenship and social monitoring of public resources allocated to the advertising of government acts.

The LED Midyear Report for 2012 details the attacks, assaults, threats or intimidation of journalists or media, as well as restrictions on access to public information and/or Acts of Censorship reported by different agencies.

Also included in the report is a chart describing the breach or the selective application of the Law 26,522 on Audiovisual Communication Services.

To prepare this report we have used information published in diverse media, the allegations made by various NGOs or organizations linked to the defense of freedom of expression and human rights, as well as complaints or information that has directly reached Fundación LED through other channels.

Description of Categories

For purposes of better understanding the LED Midyear Report 2012, we have classified events in 8 categories of violence, intimidation, threats or censorship against journalists, and included cases of restriction on access to public information and statements of agencies for the defense of human rights and freedom of expression that reflect the situation in Argentina.

The chronological case report is referenced according to each of the following categories described below:

1 – Institutional attacks, physical assaults, threats or intimidation of journalists or media;

2 – Journalists imprisoned or deprived of their liberty or harassed in court;

3 – Attacks and/or physical assaults on journalists;

4 – Threats or intimidation of journalists;

5 – Restrictions on access to public information, acts of censorship;

6 – Attacks on media broadcasting facilities, plants or antennas;

7 – Complaints and/or statements of national and international organizations on the situation related to freedom of speech in Argentina;

8 – Breaches of the law on audiovisual communication services.

While some cases are included in several of these categories, for the purposes of a correct quantification we have taken the most important category in the order of priority (from 1 to 8).

Cases by category

Cases by category were listed in descending chronological order from June 2012 until January 2012 with a description of the links where they were published.

The LED Midyear Report «Limits to Freedom of Speech,» Argentina 2012, is intended as a warning, a wake-up call to society, to help us reflect on the importance of respect for the basic right of freedom of expression, essential to democratic life. It is also a contribution to the development of a diagnostic tool to help us prevent and find solutions for the climate of confrontation with the press that encompasses the whole country.