Argentine journalists denounce state harassment under President Milei at IACHR

Journalists, unions, and human rights organizations denounced the curtailing of press freedom in Argentina under President Milei during a hearing with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The presentation took place on Wednesday in Miami following a request from the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA, by its Spanish initials) and the human rights organization Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS). Representatives from the two organizations were present along with others from press workers unions SIPREBA and FATPREN, as well as the Argentine branch of Amnesty International and others. IACHR president José Luis Caballero said that the organization is willing to carry out a special mission to Argentina to assess the press freedom situation. In order for this to happen, however, the Argentine state has to agree. Human Rights Secretary Alberto Baños, who was present at the hearing, did not address the request. Harassment and attacks Journalists Hugo Alconada Mon and Julia Mengolini offered details regarding the systematic online harassment they have suffered for their work. Speaking via video call from Argentina, Alconada Mon said he suffered massive online attacks and several hack attempts after publishing a story in the La Nación newspaper on a government intelligence program that targeted opposition members, social organizations, and even journalists.  “The goal of the attacks is to intimidate and discourage those who could investigate or publish sensitive information,” he said. Julia Mengolini, founder of radio and streaming channel Futuröck, shared how she was targeted and sued by Milei after streaming a show from the Garrahan children hospital where workers were demanding pay rises and better working conditions. Mengolini said that, in a previous occasion, sexual artificially-created videos of her were shared online, along with death and rape threats.  “The president himself amplified those aggressions, posting nearly 100 messages against me in four days. He publicly mocked me and justified the violence, saying I deserved it.” For Mengolini, it was not spontaneous violence, but rather a “disciplining strategy” meant to “punish criticism and create fear.” Representantives also spoke about the Pablo Grillo case, a photoreporter who suffered severe head injuries at the hand of the police while covering a pensioners protest in March. Grillo was left with brain damage and is still rehabbing after multiple surgeries. FOPEA president Paula Moreno said they have registered a “swift and pronounced deterioration” of journalism freedom in Argentina since Milei took office. Moreno listed an “unprecedented” rise in online aggression, and harassment by high-ranking officials. She also pointed to the use of legal action to “intimidate” journalists, and physical violence against members of the press covering social protests. Citing FOPEA’s freedom of expression observatory, Moreno said that they have registered 257 attacks on journalists so far this year, breaking the record of 193 they had registered in 2013. The number was 179 in 2024, a 53% rise compared to 2023, and a 103% jump compared to 2022. President Milei has had public feuds with several journalists and has even taken legal action in some cases. He has explicitly stated his animosity toward the press, coining a phrase he uses frequently: “We don’t hate journalists enough.” The government’s response Human Rights Secretary Baños rejected the claims. Representing the Argentine state, he said that there are no state policies curtailing press freedom and that the aggressions, injuries, or arrests during protests were “isolated events,” and not  targeted persecution. IACHR members present disagreed with Argentina’s position. IACHR executive secretary Tania Reneaum Panszi said that what they were seeing were not isolated cases, but rather a worrying tendency. “All of this makes us think that there is a context of threats, criminalization against journalists or human rights activists,” she said. Pedro Vaca, IACHR’s special rapporteur for freedom of expression, highlighted that national authorities always speak from a position of power and that this can have an impact on the press.  “The inter-American system aspires for the voice of any authority to not contribute to creating risks for other people.” You may also be interested in: Argentina falls 21 places in World Press Freedom Index