The Ombudsman expressed concern after it was reported that journalists were still unable to enter the Congress facilities of the Republic to be able to carry out its informative work. For this reason, he asked the Board of Directors chaired by María del Carmen Alva to facilitate the case, since “this situation would make it difficult to properly collect information of public relevance.”
“Although Congress has been adopting various biosafety measures aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19, Currently, it allows the physical assistance of workers and congressmen, as long as safety parameters are observed.d such as having the complete vaccination scheme, maintaining social distancing and the use of masks, ”said the Ombudsman in a statement.
In this sense, the entity regretted that the entrance of the men and women of the press to the vicinity of the Legislative has not yet been enabled, which makes it difficult for “the press to carry out an adequate coverage of the events that take place in the Parliament and preventing free interaction with congressmen.”
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“The Ombudsman’s Office recalls that the work carried out by journalists is of special importance in our democracy, since they ensure that people are duly informed. In fact, their work encourages a robust public debate and that the performance of all public officials is subject to permanent and strict scrutiny and to citizen criticism, which guarantees transparent and efficient public management”, reads the text.
The autonomous body, which until this Friday was led by Walter Gutiérrezrecalled that he also spoke when the Executive prevented the presence of unofficial media in Government activities.
“For this reason, we ask the Board of Directors of the Congress of the Republic to grant all facilities to journalists, so that they can carry out their work freely and without arbitrary, unreasonable or disproportionate restrictions,” reads the statement.
