FOTP 2013 Full Report

not exempt from disclosure. However, the statute lacks an independent body to monitorenforcement. By the end of 2012, the federal government had received more than 50,000information requests, of which roughly 95 percent were approved. Implementation of the lawproceeded more slowly at the state and municipal levels. At year’s end, only 11 of Brazil’s 26states conformed to the law’s requirements.In August, a controversial constitutional amendment that would require a degree topractice journalism moved forward following approval in the Senate. If it also passes theChamber of Deputies, the measure will go into effect, overturning a 2009 Supreme Federal Courtruling that declared such degree requirements unconstitutional. Critics contend that the rulewould limit constitutional guarantees of free expression and free speech.While the government does not restrict access to the internet, press freedom groupsexpressed concern over two proposed cybercrime laws—approved by the legislature inNovember and awaiting the president’s signature at year’s end—that could limit user privacy andrestrict freedom of expression online. In addition, at the end of 2012 Congress was consideringan Internet Bill of Rights, known as the “Marco Civil.” While initially aimed at protectingfreedom of expression, the bill was changed to include language that advocacy groups contendwould make internet service providers act as judge and jury in cases of copyright infringement.Four journalists were killed in Brazil in 2012, according to the Committee to ProtectJournalists (CPJ)—the highest number in a decade. In February, Mario Randolfo Marques Lopesof the news website Vassouras na Net was abducted and murdered. He frequently accused localauthorities of corruption, including the police and judiciary. In April, Décio Sá of O Estado doMaranhão and Blog do Décio was murdered by contract killers. He had extensively coveredpolitics and corruption on his blog. In July, Radio Jornal sports reporter Valério Luiz deOliveira—a critic of the local soccer team—was shot and killed. In November, a gunman killedEduardo Carvalho of news website Última Hora News outside his home. He regularly reportedon corruption and had survived a previous assassination attempt. According to CPJ, three of thefour murders in 2012 remained unsolved; seven individuals, including one suspect whoconfessed to the shooting, were arrested in connection with Sá’s murder. In a potentially positivestep toward combating impunity, the National Journalists’ Federation in November announcedthe creation of a commission, to be launched in 2013, aimed at investigating crimes against thepress during the 1964–85 military dictatorship.Beyond the killings, journalists in 2012 remained exposed to threats and physicalviolence, much of it linked to the municipal elections. In September, at the height of campaignseason, a bomb attack at Radio Farol in União dos Palmares, Alagoas State, forced the station,known for its criticism of the outgoing mayor, off the air. In October, a reporting team from theGazeta television network in Espírito Santo State was attacked by supporters of a defeatedmayoral candidate in Vila Velha. In another case in October, journalist Oscar Filho of theBandeirantes television network program CQC was beaten by militants from the ruling Workers’Party. In December, Mauri König, director of the Brazilian Association of InvestigativeJournalism and a reporter for the newspaper Gazeta do Povo, was forced to flee his home andtake refuge in a secure location after receiving death threats for denouncing police corruption.Similarly, reporter André Caramante of the newspaper Folha de São Paulo spent several monthsin exile after writing articles about the police and a city councilman in São Paulo. In recognitionof the alarming levels of violence against journalists, the government—after initially helping toblock a UN initiative on journalists’ safety—changed course in September and cosponsored aresolution that was adopted at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva.99