Law Against Racism 2010
The Law Against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination (; often called the Law Against Racism) is a statute passed by the Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia as Law 045 and promulgated by President Evo Morales into law as Law 737/2010 on 10 October 2010. The law prohibits discrimination and discriminatory aggression by public and private institutions and individuals, creates a governmental Committee Against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination, and bars the dissemination of racist and discriminatory ideas through the mass media. The provisions of the law applying to the media caused extensive controversy and were  opposed by mainstream publications and media worker associations. Legislative process. The first draft of the law was proposed by the Human Rights Committee of the Bolivian Chamber of Deputies on 24 May 2010, the anniversary of an incident of racist violence in Sucre in 2008. Following approval by the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate took up consideration of the Law in October. The law was considered first by the Constitution Committee, whose chair, Senator Eduardo Maldonado (MAS-IPSP, Potosí) declared he was open to revisions in the law. On 4 October, a plenary session of the Senate replaced Maldonado with  Eugenio Rojas (MAS-IPSP) as chair of the committee, assuring no changes would be made in committee. The law, unchanged from the version approved by the Deputies, was considered in plenary from 16:45 on 7 October to 05:15 on 8 October. The session was tumultuous and included frequent interruptions by opponents of the bill. Opposition lawmakers unsuccessfully proposed a revocation referendum on Articles 16 and 23. The bill was passed by the Senate by a greater than two-thirds majority. President Evo Morales promulgated the measure into law on 8 October 2010. Prohibitions. Service and public accommodations. Article 13 penalizes  the following acts by public servants: The internal regulations of public agencies must prohibit such acts, accept complaints about them, and must turn over criminally culpable employees for prosecution. Article 14 penalizes the following acts in private institutions: Private institutions must revise their internal regulations so that any of these acts by employees are considered internal faults, must share denunciations made against their employees with the Committee against Racism, and must inform prosecutors of criminal acts. Article 15 prohibits discrimination in the right to enter establishments serving the public, including the hanging of signs advertising such discrimination. Municipalities have the  responsibility to enforce this norm by three days of closure at the first offense, thirty days on the second, and definitive closure on the third. Criminal acts. Article 21 of the law makes racist or discriminatory motives an aggravating factor for all crimes, many subject to a one-third increase in minimum sentence and one-half increase in maximum sentence, not exceeding the overall maximum set by the Bolivian constitution. Articles 22 and 23 create a series of "crimes against human dignity," as Chapter V of Title VIII of the Bolivian Penal Code. These are: Article 24 also considers a  variety of instances of discriminatory actions which may be considered through private, civil actions between the parties involved. Controversy with Bolivian media. The law's Article 16, concerning the mass media, and part of Article 23, which states that no one is exempt from the law, were sharply opposed by Bolivian and some international media associations. Article 16. ("Mass Media"). A medium which authorizes and publishes racist and discriminatory ideas will be subject to economic sanctions and to suspension of its license to function, subject to regulation. Article 23 ("Adding to the penal code") […] Article 281 fourth sub-part (Diffusion  and Incitement to Racism or Discrimination). […] II. When the act is committed by a worker in the media, or the proprietor of one, he or she will not be able to allege immunity or fuero of any kind. According to La Razón, the final version of the law softens penalties for broadcasting racist ideas and requires media outlets to allocate spaces or scheduling time to anti-racism educational content.<ref name="Maira Magro/JV">Bolivian press says final anti-racism law softens penalties for media Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, University of Texas at Austin, December 2010</ref> Law Against Racism