campaign against insult laws

Insult Laws: What Are They? Why Are They Bad?

WPFC has identified elimination of a certain form of criminal defamation statute - insult laws - as a priority, believing the existence of such laws provides basis for many, many other forms of restrictions on the news media.

Insult laws - statutes that make it a criminal offense to “insult” the honor or dignity of public officials - are used in dozens of countries as vehicles to prevent and punish journalistic scrutiny of public records and official actions. A form of criminal defamation, insult laws deliberately aim to elevate officials, governments, national symbols and public institutions from criticism and examination by the public and its eyes and ears, the news media.

A global study by WPFC shows that insult laws - known as desacato laws in Spanish-speaking countries - exist in scores of countries around the world, in spite of denunciation of such statutes by the press freedom representatives of the United Nations, the Organization for Security and cooperation in Europe and the Organization of American States.

Insult laws are clearly incompatible with Article 19 of the UN’s 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and of the American Convention on Human Rights - as pointed out by the Inter- American Commission on Human Rights in its 1994 Annual Report.

Why do nations cling to such legislation, denounced by their own leaders and by intergovernmental bodies as well? Rationalizations range from an alleged desire to protect individuals’ privacy, to protect national security and to simply protect leaders’ “dignity.”

But such laws are not needed:

1. Plenty of legal remedies already exist, in civil libel and slander legislation, to provide recourse for perceived defamation.
2. Public officials deserve less -- not more -- protection from public commentary than ordinary citizens. They have sought the notoriety involved in serving the common weal through public office. And as such, they are the servants of the public, not its masters. The European Court of Human Rights has on numerous occasions expressed this view in turning aside legal efforts to punish “insult.” It said in a case involving Croatia’s irreverent Feral Tribune, “the very function of the press in a democratic society (is) to participate in the political process by checking on the development of the debate of public issues carried on by political office-holders.”
3. Democracy and economic prosperity are not possible without public accountability of its leaders and transparency in its transactions, and vigorous public discussion of issues and choices.
4. Press freedom cannot be said to exist in a nation where journalists are jailed for their work. And without press freedom, no nation can call itself a democracy.
5. Full participation in the international political and economic community is not possible as long as a nation fails to abide by the principles of good governance accepted by that community. All nations are bound by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which declares in its Article 19:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

In 1996, at a meeting of the Commonwealth Press Union in South Africa, WPFC Chairman Jim Ottaway and General Counsel Leonard Marks declared war on insult laws, thus launching WPFC’s ongoing campaign.

We have developed a multi-faceted attack plan, based on what we have heard in requests for help from journalists and democracy advocates around the world.

In judicial courts: In consultation with expert media lawyers, we have produced the basic model for a friend-of-the-court brief which can be adapted to defense arguments against desacato charges anywhere.

In the Americas, press freedom advocates may request hearings and state positions before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and may urge government leaders to refer precedent-setting cases to the Inter-American Court.

In the legislatures and the court of public opinion: When journalists and lawmakers in the country determine that they are ready to take action toward reform, WPFC will help mobilize the international free-press community to make missions to lawmakers needing encouragement, those resistant to change and those sitting on the edge. Armed with opinions of international bodies such as the European Court of Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Commission and the Organization of American States, the group will show that now is the time to make the changes needed to function as full partners in today’s international community.