The right to freedom of expression in Costa Rica

Wednesday September 19 th 2012

The right to freedom of expression is one of the most fundamental human rights to which all people are entitled; it is inalienable, non-renounceable, imprescriptible, and protected by various legal mechanisms of each country, such as their constitution, and recognized and safeguarded by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The freedom of expression provides that all women and men have the right to express themselves in an open and unrestricted manner and without interference or recrimination for holding their opinions and manifestations. Therefore, this right consists of the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

In addition to this, our freedom of speech should never be subject to prior censorship, but to the ultimate responsibility of our statement, and people should not be prevented from expressing themselves and stating what they think, feel, or perceive. Nevertheless, it could be punished as a crime as a result of such thoughts, feelings, and perceptions.

For example, a recognized journalist of a national channel with high ratings plans to denounce on a television program that a senior official of the government is corrupt but the senior official finds out about the intentions of the journalist and attempts to stop the broadcasting of the program. The journalist, protected by the freedom of expression managed to disclose all the information; nevertheless, the Courts found after thorough investigations that the information disclosed by the journalist was false and therefore proceeded to charge him for the crimes of libel and slander.

According to the above, this freedom of expression is intimately linked to the freedom of the press, which guarantees the dissemination of news and information through social media, without the prior control of the government and their powers, which has often triggered media circuses that feed the social and collective morbid curiosity, as in the cases of the former presidents of our country, Miguel Angel Rodriguez Echeverria, Rafael Angel Calderon Fournier, and Jose Maria Figueres Olsen, whereby, as a result of a long investigation carried out by a Channel Seven reporter, the different episodes of corruption in which they had participated was made public, not only nationally but also internationally. Although they were denounced by a particular person, more specifically a reporter, and not a judicial body, these allegations were not refuted and they took no action against the journalist.

With these examples, it is stated once again that the right to freedom of expression is not absolute, since although international laws and organisms grant the same, they also prohibit certain situations that threaten world communities, such as propaganda pro war, prostitution, or drugs, hate speeches, incitement to perform acts of vandalism, violence or crimes, the commission of crimes, murders, and other reprehensible behavior by any person of good manners and common sense.

Even worse and more reprehensible is that in a country like ours where freedom of expression is protected, racial discrimination and violence against these groups were encouraged. Therefore, although we are free to express and manifest our opinions, we must always respect the integrity, moral, and presence of others around us, as my right ends where another's right begins.