79 silencing effects on future expressions, which restrict the circulation of information, produce the same results as direct censorship.325 273. Along the same lines, the IACHR has stated that the prosecution of persons, including journalists and members of the media, for the mere act of investigating, writing, and publishing information in the public interest violates freedom of expression by discouraging public debate on matters of interest to society. The mere threat of being criminally prosecuted for criticism concerning matters of public interest may give rise to self-censorship, given its “chilling effect.”326 274. Given the foregoing, the Commission must now turn its attention to the question of whether the proceedings against the alleged victims were really used as a legitimate tool for the administration of justice or whether they were just the opposite, a mechanism calculated to indirectly limit exercise of their right to freedom of expression. 275. As the Inter-American Commission documented in its two reports on the situation of human rights and the coup d’état in Honduras that brought on the de facto government, various groups in civil society, civil service and the general public undertook measures to protest these events, which were systematically and violently crushed by the security forces and State authorities in the state of emergency that was arbitrarily declared.327 276. The presence of patterns of intolerance and general repression of the population that came out against the coup d’état was confirmed by Honduras’ Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in various reports.328 Here, the Commission observed that: 325 IACHR. Annual Report 2010. Report of the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. Chapter VI. Report. CHAPTER V. Principles on the Regulation of Government Advertising in the Inter-American System for the Protection of Human Rights. OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc. 51. December 30, 2009. Paragraph 6. Available at: http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/2010eng/RELATORIA_2010_ENG.pdf 326 IACHR. Annual Report 2010. Report of the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. Chapter VI. Informe. CHAPTER V. Principles on the Regulation of Government Advertising in the Inter-American System for the Protection of Human Rights. OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc. 51. December 30, 2009. Paragraph 6. Available at: http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/2010eng/RELATORIA_2010_ENG.pdf 327 IACHR. Honduras: Human Rights and Coup d’état, 2009. OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc. 55 December 30, 2009. Paragraphs 1 a 7, 92, 98, 192 et seq. and 532 et seq Available at: http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Honduras09eng/Toc.htm; IACHR. Preliminary Observations of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on its Visit to Honduras, May 15 to 19, 2010. OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc 68, Paragraph 9. Available at: http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Honduras10eng/Honduras10TOC.eng.htm; United Nations. Human Rights Council. A/HRC/13/66. United Nations. Human Rights Council. A/HRC/13/66. Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the violations of human rights in Honduras since the coup d’état on 28 June 2009. March 3, 2010. Available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/13session/A-HRC-13-66.pdf. 328 Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Report titled Para que los hechos no se repitan [So That Events Are Not Repeated]. July 2009. Volume I. Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.sjdh.gob.hn/recomendacionesCVR/sites/default/files/VOLUME-IFINAL%20Para%20que%20los%20hechos%20no%20se%20repitan%20-%20Informe%20de%20la%20CVR.pdf. IACHR. Honduras: Human Rights and Coup d’état, 2009. OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc. 55 December 30, 2009. Available at: http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Honduras09eng/Toc.htm; IACHR. Preliminary Observations of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on its visit to Honduras, May 15 to 18, 2010. OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc 68. June 3, 2010. Available at: http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Honduras10eng/Honduras10TOC.eng.htm; United Nations. Human Rights Council. A/HRC/13/66. Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the violations of human rights in Honduras since the coup d’état on 28 June 2009. March 3, 2010. Available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/13session/A-HRC-13-66.pdf