international law and human rights violations
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reedom of expression is a fundamental human right. In international law, it finds expression in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (iccpr), the African Charter on Human Rights and Peoples’ Rights, the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, the American Convention of Human Rights (the American Convention) and the European Convention of Human Rights. Of particular relevance to the present discussion are the iccpr464 and the American Convention,465 which create binding obligations on Honduras to respect and protect human rights. Honduras acceded to the iccpr on August 25, 1997 and to the American Convention on September 5, 1977.466 The iccpr contains protections for the rights to life and to freedom of expression, while the American Convention provides guarantees of these two rights and also the right to judicial protection.
A. Freedom of expression Articles 13 and 14 of the American Convention establish a legal right to freedom of expression, with the core of the right expressed in Article 13(1): Everyone has the right to freedom of thought and expression. This right includes freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing, in print, in the form of art, or through any other medium of one’s choice.467 Per Articles 1 and 2 of the American Convention, state parties to the convention have a positive obligation to ensure that the human rights provisions within the treaty are respected, protected and fulfilled.468 With regards to freedom of expression, this means the state must “adopt, when appropriate, the measures necessary and reasonable to prevent or protect the rights of whoever is in that situation [i.e. vulnerable to violations of the right to freedom of expression], as well as investigate facts that affect them.”469 The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has stated that “it is essential that journalists who work in media should enjoy the necessary protection and independence to exercise their functions comprehensively, because it is they who keep society informed, and this is an indispensable requirement to enable society to enjoy full freedom.”470 It has also been recognized that violence against journalists violates society’s right to access information freely under Article 13, as the purpose of the attacks is to silence journalists.471 A state’s failure to investigate and punish those involved in violence against journalists also results in the right to freedom of expression being violated. The iachr has stated that, in cases of crimes against journalists, “the lack of an exhaustive investigation, that would lead to the punishment of all those responsible for the murder of the journalist, also constitutes a violation of the right to freedom of expression, due to the chilling effect of such impunity on every citizen.”472 The impact of impunity on freedom of expression is further clarified in the Inter-American Declaration on Freedom of Expression, which states in Principle 9: The murder, kidnapping, intimidation of and/or threats to social communicators, as well as the material destruction of communications media violate the fundamental rights of individuals and strongly restrict freedom of expression. It is the duty of the state to prevent and investigate such occurrences, to punish their perpetrators and to ensure that victims receive due compensation.473 58