Impunity - Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Paraguay and Dominican Republic

WHEREAS the presumed murderers of Juan Carlos Encinas, contributor to radio and television programs in Bolivia, have been released by the Supreme Court and there have been no advances in the investigation of the crime, which occurred July 29, 2001 WHEREAS the case of journalist Parmenio Medina, murdered July 7, 2001, in Costa Rica has not been solved and authorities have been secretive, limiting their statements to saying that two prosecutors, four investigators and one criminologist have interviewed more than 100 people, searched 30 place for the .38-caliber weapon used in the crime and taken statements from 75 prisoners who were in contact with the journalist when he investigated topics of national interest WHEREAS journalist Jorge Mynor Alegría Armendáriz was murdered September 6, 2001, in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, and although the Human Rights Prosecutor's Office has concluded that the crime was politically motived, authorities are trying to treat the case as a common crime WHEREAS the District Court of Alto Paraná and Canindeyú has sentenced Milcíades Maylin to 25 years in prison for the murder of community journalist Salvador Medina, which occurred January 5, 2001, in Capiibary, San Pedro, Paraguay, and cases against some presumed accomplices have been dismissed and others remain at large WHEREAS after the disappearance in May of 1994 of columnist Narciso Pinales González of the Dominican Republic, the investigation of the case is still stalled, and the courts have not progressed in identifying those who are responsible WHEREAS Principle 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states that "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 urge the Bolivian government to use all means within its reach to reactivate the investigation and solve the crime to reiterate to the police and judicial authorities of Costa Rica a request that they continue the investigation to solve the crime and share with Costa Rican society the progress so long as this does not endanger the investigation to exhort the authorities who are investigating the crime in Guatemala to examine carefully the evidence and testimony in the case in order to find those truly responsible for committing the murder and the masterminds behind it to ask the government of Paraguay to reopen the case with new evidence provided by the victim's family to determine who are the hit men and masterminds of the crime to urge the government of the Dominican Republic to reopen the case and provide the means necessary to find the journalist and assign responsibilities.