Impunity - México III

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WHEREAS Benjamín Flores González, editor of La Prensa in San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, was murdered in July 1997 as a result of his reporting on drug traffickers and corrupt officials; four people were arrested in the case and convicted, but two of them, including the alleged perpetrator, subsequently had their convictions overturned due to insufficient evidence, leaving only two accessories, Vidal Zamora Lara and Jorge Pacheco Reyes, in prison; four arrest warrants have been outstanding for eight years, and the Sonoran authorities have announced no new efforts to find the masterminds WHEREAS both of the individuals convicted in the 1998 murder of Philip True, a correspondent for the San Antonio Express-News in Mexico, remain at large, despite the fact that they were convicted of homicide and given 20-year prison sentences in 2004, but have not been reapprehended WHEREAS José Ramírez Puente, a journalist for Radio Net in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, was murdered in April 2000, and after nearly six years the Mexican Office of the Attorney General, which has since taken over the investigation, has not announced any new developments, much less arrested the culprits; the motive for the crime is therefore unknown, though the prevailing theory among local journalists is that it was related to his work as a journalist WHEREAS José Luis Ortega Mata, editor of Semanario de Ojinaga in Chihuahua, was shot twice in the head and murdered in February 2001; he had reported on the activity of drug traffickers in the region and their ties to government officials, politicians, and businessmen; and he was on the verge of reporting on how drug traffickers help finance local election campaigns WHEREAS several weeks after the murder, in April 2001, U.S. businessman Jesús Manuel Herrera Olivas was arrested after having been identified by two witnesses as having carried out the murder, but was released in June 2001 due to inconsistencies in the witnesses’ stories WHEREAS the murder has since gone unpunished, no arrests have been made, and the investigation by the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Chihuahua is at a standstill WHEREAS columnist Leodegario Aguilera Lucas was kidnapped in May 2004 in Acapulco, Guerrero, and there are conflicting reports as to whether his body has been found or he continues missing; meanwhile, the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Guerrero has kept the case at a standstill, and has shown no progress in the investigation to determine why Aguilera Lucas was kidnapped and possibly killed WHEREAS Francisco Ortiz Franco, editor of the weekly newsmagazine Zeta in Baja California, was murdered in June 2004, and although the federal Office of the Attorney General took over the investigation, two years after the murder no one has been arrested in the case WHEREAS Gregorio Rodríguez Hernández, a photographer for the Mazatlán newspaper El Debate, was murdered in November 2004 in Escuinapa, Sinaloa; seven people are behind bars in connection with the case, two of whom may be let go by the judge within days because they may have been scapegoated; and the trials of the other defendants, including the former local police chief as one of the possible masterminds, are still ongoing WHEREAS another of the alleged masterminds of the reporter’s murder, whom authorities have linked to drug traffickers, has not yet been tried; the Attorney General’s Office believes Rodríguez Hernández may have been murdered because he unknowingly photographed the alleged masterminds; and no such photos were never published in El Debate, nor did they appear among his personal effects WHEREAS Alfredo Jiménez Mota, a reporter for the Sonora newspaper El Imparcial who had focused on organized crime, disappeared on April 2, 2005; nearly one year later the Mexican Office of the Attorney General has not found him or those responsible for his disappearance, and the case appears to be at a standstill WHEREAS Raúl Gibb Guerrero, editor of the newspaper La Opinión in Poza Rica, Veracruz, was murdered as he was heading home in April 2005; since then the Mexican Office of the Attorney General has announced no new developments in the case, although it has searched the homes of various family members and issued summons to the primary suspects: Brian Gibb, the journalist’s nephew, who is considered a possible perpetrator; and Martín Rojas López, known as the “czar of the Chupaductos ,” who was arrested in the United States and is in the process of being extradited to Mexico in unrelated cases WHEREAS Jaime Arturo Olvera Bravo, a former photographer for the newspaper La Voz de Michoacán was murdered on March 9, 2006 in La Piedad, Michoacán, as he was heading to a school bus stop to drop off his 5-year-old son; a man over 30 years of age lay in wait for one hour for him; upon seeing him he approached and shot him once in the neck, killing him instantly; and the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Michoacán is investigating whether he was murdered for personal reasons or for his work as a journalist WHEREAS Article 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states: “Freedom of expression and of the press are severely limited by murder, terrorism, kidnapping, pressure, intimidation, the unjust imprisonment of journalists, the destruction of facilities, violence of any kind and impunity for perpetrators. Such acts must be investigated promptly and punished harshly” THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES to insist that the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Sonora review the case file for the murder of Benjamín Flores González, editor of La Prensa in San Luis Río Colorado, in the wake of the acquittals of those who were allegedly the primarily culprits in the murder; find the true culprits and serve the four arrest warrants that have been outstanding for over eight years; and request that the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Against Journalists in the Mexican Office of the Attorney General review the case file and take over jurisdiction of the case to vigorously insist before the Mexican government that the authorities serve the arrest warrants pending against both of those responsible for the murder of Philip True to demand that the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Against Journalists in the Mexican Office of the Attorney General reopen the case of the murder of journalist José Ramírez Puente, which has remained unsolved for six years, and that it prosecute all of those involved in the murder to remind the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Chihuahua that it has yet to solve the 2001 murder of journalist José Luis Ortega Mata and that it is therefore imperative that the culprits be arrested and prosecuted, and to urge the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Against Journalists to take over the case to insist that the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Guerrero conclude its investigation into the disappearance of journalist Leodegario Aguilera Lucas, find him or his body, determine why he was kidnapped or possibly killed, and capture and prosecute the culprits to call on the Mexican Office of the Attorney General to arrest and prosecute all of those involved in the murder of journalist Francisco Ortiz Franco to urge the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Sinaloa to step up its investigation into the murder of news photographer Gregorio Rodríguez Hernández in order to arrest all of those involved and determine why he was murdered, and to demand that the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Against Journalists in the Mexican Office of the Attorney General take over the case to urge the Mexican Office of the Attorney General to step up its investigation into the disappearance of Alfredo Jiménez Mota and announce clear, specific developments in the case, as this is a serious case in which the reporter’s whereabouts and condition are unknown to urge the Mexican Office of the Attorney General to arrest and prosecute those involved in the murder of Raúl Gibb Guerrero, editor of La Opinión in Poza Rica, and issue a clear statement on why he was murdered to urge the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Against Journalists in the Mexican Office of the Attorney General to review the case file for the murder of journalist Benjamín Fernández González and determine whether it can take over the case and arrest those responsible to demand that the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Michoacán solve the murder of photographer and copy editor Jaime Arturo Olvera Bravo, prosecute the culprits, and issue a public statement on why he was murdered to urge the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Against Journalists in the Mexican Office of the Attorney General to review the case of the murder of Jaime Olvera Bravo, determine whether the case may be transferred to federal jurisdiction and, if so, solve the crime

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