Venezuela: TV Shutdown Harms Free Expression
- From: "TORREBLANCA®" <donquicovelez@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2007 21:52:46 -0500
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/05/22/venezu15986.htm
Venezuela: TV Shutdown Harms Free Expression
(Washington, DC, May 22, 2007)-The Venezuelan government's politically
motivated decision not to renew a television broadcasting license is a
serious setback for freedom of expression in Venezuela, Human Rights Watch
said today. The decision will shut down Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), the
country's oldest private channel, when its license expires on May 27, 2007.
President Hugo Chávez has repeatedly threatened to cancel RCTV's license
ever since he accused it of supporting an April 2002 coup attempt. On
December 28, 2006, he announced during a military ceremony that the order
not to renew the channel's 20-year license had already been drafted.
"President Hugo Chávez is misusing the state's regulatory authority to
punish a media outlet for its criticism of the government," said José Miguel
Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "The move to shut down
RCTV is a serious blow to freedom of expression in Venezuela."
Of the three commercial stations accessible in all parts of Venezuela, only
RCTV has remained strongly critical of the government. The other
two-Venevision and Televen-were themselves accused of supporting the
attempted coup and subsequent anti-government protests. But both have since
removed virtually all content critical of the government from their
programming.
Venevision's license is also due for renewal on May 27, but the government
has remained silent about the channel's future, in contrast to its repeated
public attacks on RCTV.
Officials defend the decision by pointing out that the government is merely
exercising its right not to renew RCTV's broadcasting license when it
expires. However, no procedure was established to enable RCTV to present
evidence and arguments in its favor; the criteria on which the decision was
based were not established clearly beforehand, nor was there any application
or selection process allowing RCTV to submit an application for continuation
of its concession.
In March 2007 the government published details of its case-a 360-page "White
Book on RCTV"-which includes pages of allegations against the station, some
of them based on investigations by the government broadcasting authority
CONATEL. The report was issued months after Chávez made his announcement and
does not address the station's replies to CONATEL's investigation.
The White Book accuses RCTV of "inciting rebellion," showing "lack of
respect for authorities and institutions," breaking the laws protecting
minors, engaging in monopolistic practices, and failing to pay taxes.
However, it does not cite a single final judicial or administrative ruling
establishing that the channel had in fact committed any of these alleged
offenses during its 20-year contract. No one from the channel has been
convicted for their alleged complicity in the attempted coup.
Government officials have announced that RCTV will be replaced by a public
service channel open to community groups and independent producers and
without editorial control by the state or government programming.
The government has not made a clear case why RCTV must be taken off the air
to set up the new channel. The government has frequencies at its disposal on
both VHF and UHF wavebands in many parts of Venezuela. It has already used
UHF frequencies to successfully install a nationwide education and cultural
channel, Vive TV.
"The government's proposal to democratize the airwaves sounds great in
theory, but shutting down broadcasters for their political views is not the
way to do it," said Vivanco.
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