USA. Milei’s hatred and attacks on the press were laid bare before international organizations

This Wednesday, the eleventh hearing of the 194th period of sessions of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The meeting was led by José Luis Caballeropresident of the IACHRand focused on “the situation of freedom of expression in Argentina.” It was convened at the request of a diverse group of journalists and photojournalists, unions, academics and human rights organizations in the country.

On the side of the applicants were the Buenos Aires Press Union (SiPreBA)the Federation of Press Workers (Fatpren)the Association of Graphic Reporters of the Argentine Republic (ARGra), Amnesty Internationalhe Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS)he Argentine Journalism Forum (Fopea)journalists like Hugo Alconada Mon, Julia Mengolini, Claudio Jacquelin and the photographer Thomas Cuesta. A very broad arc, both ideologically and institutionally.

Representing the Argentine Government were Alberto Baños, Secretary of Human Rights, Alberto Salgadolawyer of the Argentine Foreign Ministry and legal advisor Maria Jimena Rodriguez. Last week, as reported in another notebefore him UN Committee Against Torture the secretary Bathrooms had the nerve to reproduce the clichés denialists about the last Argentine dictatorship and the genocide it carried out.

When starting, Caballero said that the issue of freedom of expression in Argentina “has deserved very particular attention” from the IACHR. “Between last year and this year, five press releases have been issued” referring to the issue, said the president of the international organization and recalled that there was a previous hearing, in July 2024in which “the situation of social protest and the right to freedom of expression” was discussed.

The hearing lasted just over an hour and forty. First the complainants presented, then the libertarian officials and finally there was a round of questions and answers.

The truths of those who denounce

The presentation of the complainants focused on three axes: repressive violence against journalistic activity, judicial persecution of the Government in order to silence those who provide information and the emptying policies of state media. “All this in a context of surveillance and control of opinion, as we know after the publication of fragments of the National Intelligence Plan,” they said from the CELS.

From SiPreBA y Fatprene, Francisco Rabini detailed how the government of mercy moved forward with a brutal adjustment policy on state-owned media, leaving thousands of workers in uncertainty y attacking the right to information of the entire society. And they stressed that state violence is not only physicalbut also symbolic y economiccon layoffs, chases y constant threats.

“The attack on journalists and press workers is part of an attempt to destroy the social role that communication plays“, said rabbis and denounced that, in the last two years, freedom of expression and the press in Argentina has been “a target of systematic and organized attacks”, which are not isolated events, but rather an offensive planned from state offices.

The group of organizations highlighted that, for the first time since the end of the dictatorship, it is seen how from the organization itself Pink House one was set up harassment campaign against journalists and press workerswhich is summarized in the expressions of mercy on social networks: “We don’t hate journalists enough.” The systematic repression of the press during coverage of social protests is a direct consequence. In each mobilization the State shoots cameramen, photographers, reporters and producers.

Only in the march on February 1, 2024, 52 press workers were injured. The most brutal case is that of the photojournalist Pablo Grillowho on March 12 was on the verge of losing his life when the gendarme Hector Guerrero He fired a tear gas grenade that hit his head. Today Grillo continues fighting to survive. At last year’s hearing of the case of Grillo was also exposed, along with those of the lawyer Matías Aufieri and the municipal worker Jonathan Navarrowho lost the vision in one of their eyes due to rubber bullet shots.

The State also judicially harassesthrough causes promoted by himself mercy against journalists who are uncomfortable. armed causes without any basis, that the Judiciary ends up discardingbut they seek to silence critical voices. Women journalists also suffer particular harassment, as noted in the same hearing. Julia Mengolini.

He emptying of state media It is evident in what happened in the national agency Telam . A dismantling that not only affects those who work in these media, but is also a blow to the plurality of voices and the right of the entire society to be informed. National Radio the Public Television and educational and cultural channels were dismantled, leaving their workers with frozen salaries and in increasingly precarious conditions. At the same time, the elimination of support programs and the discretionary management of the official guideline also they hit community media squarely that today are in the crosshairs of the Government’s adjustment.

Mengolinijournalist and media entrepreneur, explained your personal case to depict “a government that does not hesitate to use the entire state apparatus to persecute, harass and silence uncomfortable voices. Since Javier Miley arrived at the Pink Housethe environment for doing journalism became unbreathable,” he said from his vision. And he added that “what at first were simple grievances, became a true campaign of institutional hatred, promoted from the highest positions of power.”

The collective complaint emphasized that organization and international complaint become “fundamental tools to defend the right to inform and be informed.” In that sense, through a petition it was claimed urgent measures to protect those who practice journalism in Argentina. To the IACHR he was asked to demand that the Argentine State guarantee real conditions to practice journalism and to repudiate the use of state institutions to persecute the press.

The lies of Milei and her minions

In turn, the representatives of the Government of mercy They sought to relativize and take away the weight of the avalanche of accusations from a wide range of journalists, trade organizations and human rights organizations. own Alberto Baños He dared to say that everything that had been exposed is nothing more than “isolated cases.” The Secretary of Human Rights denied that there are problems with freedom of expression in Argentina. Furthermore, he said that the testimonies that were given were irrelevant for audience objectives.

According to Bathroomsthe complainants only seek with this hearing to “bring the Argentine State to its knees”, since it would not be a discussion about public policies, but rather a maneuver to attack the Government of mercy. “This is a thematic hearing, we cannot allow it to be used to try to subdue the Argentine State under the excuse of defending policies of any political color,” stated the far-right and denialist former judge.

The story put together by the Argentine government indicates that the fact that some do not like certain official policies “does not mean that the Inter-American Commission should intervene,” since there is no type of attack or violation of human rights by the Executive Branch. “In the nation human rights are defended horizontally,” he said. Bathrooms without any kind of shame.

The exculpatory intention of libertarian officials became its opposite. The explanations, denials and evasions of Bathrooms They are nothing other than a self-incrimination which should be noted by the IACHR and even force the Inter-American Court to sanction the Argentine State and force it to reverse its repressive and persecutory policies.

After the interventions of the parties, the executive secretary of the IACHR, Tania Reneaum Panszihe responded to Bathrooms that, strictly speaking, we are not dealing with “singular cases,” but rather there is a trend that the Commission is concerned about. “Everything makes it seem that there is a context of threats, criminalization of journalists or activists of human rights,” he said diplomatically.

In turn Pedro VacaSpecial Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the organization, added that, for the parameters of the IACHR“when a ruler addresses the press he does so from a position of power and that can have impacts. The voice of an authority is not just any voice. The inter-American system aspires to ensure that the voice of any authority does not contribute to the generation of risks for other people.”

Despite the attempts of officials to Freedom Advancesfrom the IACHR The work of the press in the reconstruction of the repressive operations and the identification of those responsible was highlighted. There is the example of Police Map promoted by a group of journalists and experts in data processing and analysis, who managed to identify the gendarme Guerrero and to the prefect Sebastian Martinezexecutors of the attacks on Grillo y Navarrorespectively.

Despite having all the information in their possession, the Executive Branch and the Judicial Branch They refused to identify them. It was collaborative journalism itself that did it.

Finally, the organizations and people who complained a request before the IACHR in which the organization is asked “to monitor the repressive context in Argentina”, request the government of mercy “measures that stop attacks against journalists and critical voices” and put an “end to the repression against those who demonstrate and those who cover these protests.” In turn, they requested that the Commission and the Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression visit Argentina soon to have direct contact with more complainants and verify the reported policies.

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