Impunity - Peru

WHEREAS the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presented an exhaustive investigation of 20 years of violence in the country WHEREAS the chapter on the media in that report examines how journalists worked under an atmosphere of violence, a campaign of intimidations and continuous threats from terrorist groups and the armed force WHEREAS during that period 16 journalists, most of whom had been threatened or detained several times, were killed, and, in the conclusions of the report, the commission asks the Public Prosecutor’s Office to take criminal action against those responsible for the deaths WHEREAS the report gives names and offers evidence about the deaths of Jaime Ayala Sulca, correspondent of the daily La República, and Jaime Bustíos Saavedra, correspondent of the magazine Caretas WHEREAS Principle 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 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAPA RESOLVES to express its appreciation for the chapter on the media in final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission whose investigation covers 20 years of violence in the country to ask Peruvian authorities to take the necessary actions to find and punish those who are responsible for the murders of journalists described in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report to urge the judiciary and the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Peru to begin the necessary procedures to ensure that the murders of journalists Jaime Ayala Sulca and Jaime Bustíos Saavedra are solved.