A delegation of the International Press Institute (IPI) completed a press freedom mission to Barbados which included four days of meetings with government, media and civil society representatives. The visit to the island was the first stop in IPI’s ongoing four-country mission campaigning for the abolishment of criminal defamation laws in the Caribbean. After Barbados, IPI will also visit the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.

The delegation, headed by IPI’s executive director Alison Bethel McKenzie, also includes Pavol Mudry, vice chair of IPI’s Executive Board; Wesley Gibbings, president of the Association of Caribbean MediaWorkers, an IPI strategic partner; and Mariela Hoyer Guerrero, IPI’s press freedom adviser for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Barbados’ prime minister Freundel Stuart received the delegation on June 12. After hearing IPI’s arguments in favour of decriminalising libel in the country, Stuart said: “I must look into it.” He acknowledged the importance of enabling journalists to do their work freely and recognized that public officials should be subjects of scrutiny and be held to a higher burden of proof in issues of defamation.

The Defamation Act in Barbados (1997) stipulates that the punishment for criminal libel is either a fine or a prison term up to 12 months. The ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP) included in its electoral manifesto the introduction in its first 100 days in office of what it termed “Integrity Legislation,” included in which were a freedom of information law and amendments to the criminal defamation act.  However, four years after taking office, it has only established an Advisory Board on Governance tasked with drafting the changes. The legislation has not yet been approved.

IPI believes that Barbados already has one of the freest media environments of the world. Although journalists on the island continue to face intimidation, which results in self-censorship, IPI believes that the approval of a Freedom of Information Act and the decriminalisation of defamation will enhance democracy and freedom in the country, making it a leader in the region.

Participants to the IPI press freedom mission noted that, while the Freedom of Information Bill may soon be turned into law, as the bill is already in the office of the Attorney General, the process of amending the defamation act appears to have stagnated.

“While we would have liked to have a greater commitment from the government in ending criminal defamation, we were impressed by the ruling administration’s willingness to enter constructive discussions on the issue. I firmly believe that the island’s leaders are committed to the idea of repealing criminal defamation and would urge them to put that commitment in practice and repeal the law before the end of the year,” Bethel McKenzie said, adding that a formal call for decriminalising defamation in the Caribbean before the end of the decade will be presented at the IPI World Congress.

“I have no doubt that the issue of criminal defamation will be addressed”, Barbados’ Attorney General, Adriel Brathwaite, told IPI. He explained that the proposal for amendments to the Defamation Act has not been formally introduced to his office and, when that occurs, it would still need to be revised by the cabinet before being approved. He added that the process needs time. Nevertheless, Brathwaite insisted on the possibility of considering the changes: “We are committed to the issue of freedom of the press”.

“Barbados is on a good track to remove criminal defamation from the books. We have heard promising words from politicians, including the Prime Minister and the attorney general. They want to deal with this issue”, Pavol Mudry, vice chair of IPI’s Executive Board, said. “We are also happy that we got local media support”, he added.

In a meeting with the IPI delegation, Dale Marshall, deputy opposition leader, said he considered section 34 of the Defamation Act an anachronism.

Gibbings expressed satisfaction with the results of the visit: “This mission played a strong role in initiating the much needed discourse leading to the eventual repeal of this anachronism. The ACM will play its part in raising the awareness required to draw the connection between such an intervention and the wider development process, both in Barbados, and the Caribbean region as a whole.”

The IPI delegation is now in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It will also visit Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago in the coming days to advocate for the decriminalization of defamation.