FOTP 2013 Full Report

operations of the media. Provisions from the country’s 1902 printing press law that imposedprison sentences for defamation were in effect until the Supreme Court struck them down in2010. And in December 2011, the Costa Rican courts created an appeals process for overturningcriminal libel sentences. However, despite these advances and calls for further reform, journalistsremain vulnerable to criminal charges for defamation, with punishments including excessivefines and the placing of one’s name on a national list of convicted criminals. The constitutionreserves for readers the right of reply to newspapers in response to information that the readersdeem incorrect or egregious. In 2012, the parliament continued to postpone discussion of a billthat would expand the scope of the right of reply from information to opinions. The InterAmerican Press Association (IAPA) has warned that the bill could reduce press freedom andfreedom of expression.Accessing government information continues to be difficult. The Freedom of Expressionand Press Freedom Bill, originally introduced in 2002, has been repeatedly postponed, leavingCosta Rica as a regional laggard on implementing comprehensive access to informationlegislation. President Laura Chinchilla’s administration has failed to prioritize passage of the bill.In July 2012, the Legislative Assembly passed an information crimes bill, known informally asthe gag law, which would lengthen jail terms for acts of “political espionage.” Article 288 of thenew law calls for jail terms ranging from four to eight years for journalists and other citizensconvicted of “improperly obtaining secret political information or information related to publicsecurity,” according to the IAPA. Journalists and press freedom organizations denounced thebill’s passage and warned that the law would seriously impede the public’s ability to scrutinizetheir government. In November, the government announced that the legislation would not applyto journalists, but Reporters Without Borders pressed for the entire article to be scrapped so itcould not be used against alternative information providers such as bloggers and other citizenjournalists. In late November the Supreme Court temporarily suspended implementation ofArticle 288 pending a broader examination of the law’s constitutionality.Although fear of legal reprisals promotes some self-censorship, media outlets aregenerally free to cover a range of sensitive political and social issues and to openly criticize thegovernment. Some news organizations have developed strong investigative reporting teams. Anin-depth investigation of tax evasion by the daily La Nación prompted the resignation of FinanceMinister Fernando Herrero in April 2012 after it came to light that he had consistentlyunderreported property values in order to minimize his family’s tax burden. Journalists are rarelyvictims of physical threats or violence in Costa Rica. In 2012, there were no reports of suchattacks.Costa Rica has a vibrant media scene, with numerous public and privately ownednewspapers, television outlets, and radio stations. There are nine major newspapers, and cabletelevision is widely available. Radio is the most popular outlet for news dissemination. Privatemedia ownership is highly concentrated, however, and tends to be politically conservative. Theinternet served as an additional source of unrestricted information and was accessed by morethan 48 percent of the population in 2012.Côte d’IvoireStatus: Not Free134