Les médias libres : un levier structurant de la démocratie et de la citoyenneté

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Reviews Freedom of Speech in Guatemala

, by Cultural Survival

Résumé en français : Au cours de sa 147ème session sur la liberté d’expression des peuples autochtones, qui se déroulera le 15 mars prochain à Washington, la Commission interaméricaine sur les droits de l’homme examinera le cas des radios communautaires au Guatemala, toujours considérées comme illégales par la législation du pays.

On March 15, in Washington D.C., the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) will hold a hearing during its 147th Period of Sessions concerning the freedom of expression of Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala. The hearing will address the status of community radio in Guatemala, which despite being guaranteed to Indigenous Peoples by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the 1996 Peace Accords, and the Guatemalan Constitution, is not legal under the country’s current telecommunications law. Cesar Gomez will represent the Guatemalan community radio movement and Cultural Survival, an Indigenous Peoples rights organization based in Cambridge, MA.

For over a decade, Indigenous radio advocates have been lobbying the Guatemalan Congress to legalize community radio. For seven years, Cultural Survival has partnered with a network of over 80 community radio stations across Guatemala, many of which broadcast in one or more of the country’s 23 Indigenous languages, in building the stations’ capacity and supporting their legalization efforts. The proposed Community Media Bill, Initiative 4087, which would create legal authorizations for nonprofit community radio by allowing Indigenous Peoples equal access to the radio spectrum, has been awaiting congressional approval since 2010.

Freedom of Speech in Guatemala
Ixchel Mateo is interviewed by Idelfonso Ambrocio and Lorenzo Mateo about the importance of community radio during a protest in Guatemala City, October 2012.
Cultural Survival

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