En todo el mundo, periodistas, bloggers, trabajadores médicos, defensoras/es de los derechos humanos y todas/os aquellas/os que critican la respuesta inadecuada a la pandemia del Covid-19 están siendo atacadas/os. Por acallar sus voces disidentes, se les acusa de difundir información falsa, se les calumnia, se les amenaza, se les detiene y se les ataca físicamente.

Los bancos de desarrollo han destinado un total de 103 millones de dólares a 880 proyectos relacionados con Covid-19 en todo el mundo, según los datos recogidos por International Accountability Project, uno de los miembros de la Coalición para los Derechos Humanos en el Desarrollo.  Estos bancos se han comprometido a respetar y aplicar sus salvaguardias sociales y ambientales y a colaborar con todas las partes interesadas, incluidos las/los periodistas y la sociedad civil. Sin embargo, no están adoptando medidas para proteger a quienes critican la respuesta de emergencia, denuncian los escándalos de corrupción y plantean cuestiones en torno a la transparencia y la rendición de cuentas.

Los miembros de nuestra Coalición y las organizaciones de libertad de prensa de todo el mundo están denunciando una creciente reacción contra las/los trabajadoras/es de los medios de comunicación en el contexto de la pandemia y están pidiendo a los bancos de desarrollo que adopten medidas concretas para proteger a las/los periodistas.

Para obtener más información, consulte el esta herramienta desarrollada por Reporteros sin Fronteras (Tracker 19), que está monitoreando los impactos de la pandemia en el periodismo y documentando los ataques contra la libertad de prensa en todo el mundo.

En las siguientes secciones, puede encontrar:

• La grabación de la sesión del Foro de la Sociedad Civil del Banco Mundial «Financiación del Banco Mundial y Libertad de Prensa», el 8 de octubre de 2020.
• Una lista de recomendaciones a los bancos de desarrollo.
• Un panorama general de la situación de la libertad de prensa y la respuesta de los bancos Covid-19 en Camboya, Egipto, México, Mongolia, Pakistán, Turquía y Zimbabwe (sólo en inglés).
• Lea aquí el artículo de opinión publicado por Devex: «No hay espacio para la disensión – cómo los bancos de desarrollo están apoyando a los gobiernos que silencian a los periodistas» (sólo en inglés).

RECOMENDACIONES

Para proteger a las y los periodistas y apoyar la libertad de los medios de comunicación en los países en los que invierten, los bancos de desarrollo deberían:

1. Pronunciarse cuando hay casos de represalias contra periodistas.
2. Comprometerse públicamente para promover y proteger la libertad de prensa.
3. Fortalecer la transparencia y la rendición de cuentas; proveer a los periodistas los datos necesarios para investigar temas de corrupción y rendición de cuentas.
4. Adoptar e implementar salvaguardas para garantizar un entorno propicio para la participación pública, el involucramiento de las partes interesadas y los medios de comunicación.
5. Investigar casos de represalias; presionar a los gobiernos para que proporcionen información sobre tales ataques y emprendan acciones para prevenir y abordarlos.
6. Exigir compromisos gubernamentales para la libertad de prensa y apoyar la creación de mecanismos nacionales para proteger a los periodistas.
7. Asegurar que el Covid-19 no se utilice como pretexto para restringir aún más la participación cívica, reprimir la libertad de prensa o reducir los estándares de transparencia.
8. Proporcionar fondos a organizaciones de medios no gubernamentales y para el desarrollo de medios independientes.

Descargue nuestra infografía «Ocho medidas que los bancos de desarrollo deben tomar para proteger a los periodistas» aquí.

MÉXICO

Apoyo financiero:

• Banco Mundial  (1.000 millones de dólares)
• Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) Invest (337 millones de dólares)
• Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo ($300 millones de dólares)
• European Investment Bank ($150 millones de dólares)

Antes de la pandemia, México ya era considerado uno de los países más peligrosos para las y los periodistas. Entre el 12 de marzo y el 16 de mayo de 2020, ARTICLE 19 documentó aproximadamente 120 ataques contra la prensa, y 52 casos (43%) están vinculados a la cobertura de la pandemia. Las autoridades nacionales, federales y locales han sido las responsables de generar un ambiente polarizado y amenazador contra la prensa, con ataques directos, campañas de estigmatización y negación de información.

La cobertura de la pandemia se ha centralizado mediante conferencias públicas que se transmiten a través de los medios de comunicación social, celebradas por el Presidente por la mañana y el Subsecretario de Salud por la tarde. Sin embargo, sólo se responde a las preguntas favorables al gobierno, mientras que las preguntas que cuestionan los datos proporcionados por el gobierno o critican sus políticas suelen dar lugar a comentarios estigmatizantes y a represalias en línea por parte de quienes apoyan al gobierno actual.

El 1 de abril, Denise Dresser, académica y columnista, destacó cómo los Estados Unidos estaban haciendo proyecciones sobre la pandemia y se estaban preparando para miles de muertes. Luego preguntó por qué México no había hecho tales proyecciones. El Presidente respondió diciendo «estamos viviendo temporada de zopilotes«. Durante las semanas siguientes Dresser recibió muchos comentarios insultantes y acosadores en los medios sociales y el término «zopilotes» es ahora utilizado constantemente por las autoridades para criticar a cualquier periodista que haga preguntas sobre Covid-19.

La desinformación y los ataques contra la prensa están muy extendidos. En el estado de Puebla, el gobernador Miguel Barbosa ha sido el responsable directo de la desinformación, diciendo que «los pobres son inmunes al virus» y que «la vacuna es un plato de mole de pavo». Cuando se le preguntó sobre estos comentarios, el gobernador atacó a la prensa y se negó a responder a los medios de comunicación que criticaban su respuesta a la pandemia. En Baja California, el gobernador Jaime Bonilla ha participado en una campaña de difamación contra varios medios de comunicación. Cualquier cuestionamiento o reportaje de datos que difieran de la propaganda oficial es catalogado como «mentiras» y «un ataque contra este gobierno». En consecuencia, los estados donde se registran más ataques contra la prensa son también los que tienen un mayor número de casos de Covid-19.

CAMBODIA

Financial support

• Asian Development Bank ($352 million)
• World Bank ($171 million)
• International Finance Corporation ($75 million)

Even prior to the pandemic, press freedom in Cambodia was already in decline, but the government has used Covid-19 as a pretext to further crack down on journalists. On 3rd March 2020, Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a statement warning that anyone spreading ‘fake news’ regarding the outbreak would be considered a terrorist and that the public should be active in combating the dissemination of this ‘fake news’. 

The ‘fake news’ allegation has been used on several occasions to arrest Cambodian people for expressing concerns about Covid-19 on social media, limiting their ability as stakeholders in the projects funded by the banks as well as creating a chilling effect for others. 

According to Human Rights Watch, «in the first weeks after the pandemic’s outbreak, the Cambodian authorities arrested over 30 people based on allegations that they had spread fake news about the virus in Cambodia. Among those arrested were opposition activists, a child, ordinary citizens speaking out on Facebook, and journalists.»

For example, on June 28 the publisher of the Khmer Nation newspaper, Ros Sokhet, was charged with incitement to provoke» serious chaos» for some social media posts. In one of the posts Sokhet had criticised the government for not offering solutions to people struggling to pay back bank loans.

A new state of emergency law was also hastily drafted and passed in April. The law contains broad and vague provisions, including unlimited surveillance of telecommunications, control of media and social media, as well as a concerning catch all provision – ‘putting in place other measures that are deemed appropriate or necessary to respond to the state of emergency’.

Soon afterwards, a new Law on Public Order which would grant the government provisions to regulate public spaces and public behaviour was drafted. This law has been widely criticised by civil society and UN experts as it risks violating the right to privacy, silencing free speech and criminalising peaceful assembly.

The government is also pushing through a sub-decree which would grant powers to control internet traffic. There are concerns that this could lead to limits on freedom of speech as the government will be able to block content, or deny access to online information. This legislation is being pushed through at a time when the pandemic makes it very difficult for the law to be properly reviewed through strong public consultation processes.

EGYPT

Financial support:

• European Investment Bank ($1758 million)
• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ($525 million)
• International Finance Corporation ($75 million)
• World Bank ($100 million)

In Egypt, at  least 9 health care workers and 10 journalists have been arrested since February in retaliation for criticising the government for its inadequate Covid-19 response, and for questioning how it spent the funds received.

Mohamed Mounir, a journalist and founder of the Front for the Defense of Journalists and Freedoms, was arrested in June and accused of spreading fake news, joining a terrorist organization and misusing social media, because he had written several posts asking the government how the Covid-19 funds were being spent. He died a month later, after contracting Covid-19 in jail, just a few days after being released on bail.

In March 2020, Egyptian authorities warned British-German journalist Ruth Michaelson to leave the country, as Egypt’s State Information Services (SIS) challenged her reporting of a study that suggested there were up to 19,000 cases in Egypt. At that time, the government was saying that there were less than 200 cases.

Also health care workers are being criminalised for speaking out and detained under vague charges of «spreading false news» and «terrorism». As denounced by Amnesty International, in Egypt, “Health care workers are forced to make an impossible choice: risk their lives or face prison if they speak out”.

MONGOLIA

Financial support

• Asian Development Bank ($174 million)
• International Finance Corporation ($142 million)
• Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank ($100 million)
• World Bank ($47.9 million)

On 29 April 2020, the Parliament of Mongolia rapidly passed a law on “prevention and fighting the Covid-19 pandemic and decreasing the negative impact to the society and the economy”. This law, along with an amended law on extreme situations and one on disaster prevention, have introduced provisions that risk censoring the media and reduce the space for civic engagement, online and offline.

The Covid-19 Law prohibits citizens from disseminating false information and obliges the media to deliver “true and objective information to the public from reliable sources” (para 14.2). Those breaching this law can face large fines, 240-720 hours of community-service hours, or a restriction on their right to travel. Para 10.4.13 of the newly amended Law on Disaster Prevention also protects dissemination of ‘fake news’ through traditional media and on social networks. 

Mongolian press freedom and anti-corruption activists are concerned that the law does not define what constitutes false information. The fears are justified as a former – weaker – law under which defamation charges were previously brought saw over 100 journalists charged.

According to civil society in Mongolia, the new and newly amended laws and criminal defamation provisions  restrict the critical and investigative journalism reporting necessary at this time. For example in July, Parliamentary Speaker, Mr. Zandanshatar invited around 30 journalists from print, broadcast and online media outlets and suggested they not report and disseminate information on the newly amended Constitution. Although not directly related to COVID, this is demonstrative of the Mongolian government’s approach to dealing with the press and goes some way to demonstrate why journalists might self-censor their work. 

Throughout lockdown restrictions in Mongolia, the police has been responsible for preventing people from traveling. However, after a young citizen from Khuvsgul province posted on Facebook that police officers were being bribed during the quarantine by people wanting to travel from the provinces to the capital, rather than sparking an investigation, he was fined MNT 550,000 for supposedly distributing false information. 

PAKISTAN

Financial support:

• Asian Development Bank ($1,802 million);
• Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank ($750 million)
• World Bank ($720 million)

In Pakistan, even prior to the pandemic journalists were facing stigmatization campaigns, threats, intimidation, and physical attacks, but the situation has now worsened as the government has been using the pandemic as a pretext to further restrict freedom of expression. Moreover, readership and circulation of newspapers are rapidly declining and salaries are being reduced, but no relief package was awarded to the media.

Some attacks against journalists were directly related to their reporting on the pandemic. Two TV reporters, Saeed Ali Achakzai and Abdul Mateen Achakzai, were held three days by a paramilitary force and tortured, after reporting on a public protest against the poor facilities at a quarantine centre in Balochistan. There are other cases involving journalists, including citizen journalists, looking to highlight shortcomings of the government Covid-19 support programme have faced restrictions and there have also been allegations of beatings and torture by security forces in cases where journalists do attempt to cover the issue.

The government is also trying to step up online “regulation,” with the pretext of controlling misinformation. In February 2020, the government approved rules to regulate social media. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has also introduced a new set of restrictive directives for reporting on Covid-19. Press freedom organizations, such as Article 19, have also expressed their concern for the proposal of the Citizens Protection (against Online Harms) Rules. As reported by Article 19, “the Rules grant a government agency extensive powers to order the blocking or removal of vaguely defined content in the absence of any meaningful safeguards in violation of international standards on freedom of expression. They also provide for obligations to filter content and to disclose user data at the request of the government in breach of international standards on privacy. 

TURKEY

Financial support

• Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank ($874 million)
• World Bank ($760 million)
• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ($594 million)
• International Finance Corporation ($125 million)

The Covid-19 outbreak has given authorities an additional excuse to target the media, adding a new layer to the crackdown on media freedom in Turkey. Journalists have been targeted across the country under the guise of combating misinformation. Turkey has seen journalists facing criminal investigation and detention for reporting or even tweeting on Covid-19.

In a bid to take further control over social media, Turkey’s parliament has now passed a controversial new law granting it sweeping powers over social media companies. Under the new law, platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. will be forced to block or fully remove content at the request of the government. Noncompliance would result in fines and the restriction of bandwidth to slow or block traffic to their site. There are also concerns that the law could mean social media companies handing over personal details of users to the Turkish government. 

On the 4th of March editor-in-chief of a local news website in Antalya and the same site’s senior editors – İdris Özyol and Ebru Küçükaydın – were detained, questioned and then released over a news report concerning Covid-19. Their news report is now no longer available online. 

İsmet Çiğit, the editor-in-chief of local newspaper SES Kocaeli, was detained on 18th March following the publication of an article on the SES Kocaeli website about the death of two people in a local hospital from Covid-19. The newspaper’s executive responsible for the website, Güngör Aslan, was summoned by the authorities the next day. Both were questioned about their sources in the hospital, and felt pressure to stop their reporting on the issue. They were both released after giving a statement to the prosecutor and stating that they will no longer report on Covid-19. 

Former Halk TV editor-in-chief, Hakan Aygün, was remanded in prison on 4th April because of his social media posts on Facebook and Twitter criticizing Turkey’s President Erdoğan’s sharing of a bank account number for donations from the public to help with the pandemic. His play on words – changing the word IBAN to IMAN meaning “religious belief – caused him to be charged under articles prohibiting “inciting the public to enmity and hatred” and “insulting the religious beliefs of a section of society”. His case is ongoing.

On 30th April Fox TV presenter, Fatih Portakal, was indicted for damaging the reputation of the banks following a tweet on 6th April in which he compared the Covid-19 Aid appeal to additional taxes collected during the war of independence at the end of the first world war. A complaint by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) for the tweet led to investigations for “insulting the President” and for “deliberately damaging the reputation” of banks. Portakal’s tweet was blocked by court order on 8th April before the indictment on 30th April. 

Three broadcasts of the news programme Portakal presents were found to have incited enmity and hatred during broadcasts. The regulatory body, the Radio and Television High Council (RTÜK) imposed the highest penalty on FOX TV by stopping the broadcast of the programme three times.

Journalist and human rights defender Nurcan Baysal has also been interrogated by the police. On 30th and 31st March she was interrogated about her recent social media posts and two recent articles, commenting on the precautions taken by the government against Covid-19 and their implementation in Diyarbakir and other Kurdish cities, as well as the measures being taken in Diyarbakir’s prisons. She was questioned about her motives for posting on Twitter which amounted to a “threat to incitement to fear and panic among the public”, according to the record of her statement issued by the police. If indicted, she may be charged with “provoking the public to hatred and hostility”.

ZIMBABWE

Financial support

• World Bank – ($49.6 million);
• African Development Bank – (10,000,000 UAC, approximately equivalent to $14 million)

The Zimbabwean authorities have taken actions against independent media outlets and arrested reporters who were scrutinizing and/or criticising the Covid-19 response.

On 20 July 2020, human rights defender and journalist Hopewell Chin’ono was arbitrarily arrested at his home in Harare and charged with ‘incitement to commit public violence’. He remained in jail for 45 days and he was finally released on bail on 2 September. As reported by Front Line Defenders, «The charges against Hopewell Chin’ono are in relation to posts he made on social media, calling on citizens to participate in the anti-corruption demonstrations that took place on 31 July around the country. Authorities and the investigating officer on the case claimed that the posts incited people to participate in gatherings that would promote a breach of the peace, and that the aim of these demonstrations was to overthrow the Government of Zimbabwe. The aim of the protests however, was to denounce corruption, mismanagement of the economic crisis and the lack of reforms by the government. The defender believes he has been targeted in reprisal for his investigation and reporting on the alleged case of government corruption involving Covid-19 medical supplies in June 2020. The Minister was dismissed from his role and arrested as a result of the scandal.

Mduduzi Mathuthu, another Zimbabwean journalist who reported on the same corruption scandal, is still in hiding as he fears for his life. On 30 July, security forces raided his house and – failing to find him – arrested his sister and three of his nephews. Mduduzi is the founder and editor of Zim Live, a news website that exposed massive corruption and gross mismanagement of funds meant for the COVID-19 response in Zimbabwe. According to MISA Zimbabwe, one nephew was even tortured by alleged security agents. Two other Zimbabwean journalists, Frank Chikowore and Samuel Takawira, were also arrested for offences related to violating the Covid-19 rules and acquitted in September.