Impunity - Dominican Republic

WHEREAS journalist Juan Andujar, correspondent of Listín Diario newspaper, was murdered by criminals on September 14 this year; another journalist was wounded, and still others were threatened with death after reporting on the increase in crime in Azua, Dominican Republic WHEREAS journalist Euri Cabral, a director of television Canal 23 and commentator on the radio program “El Gobierno de la Mañana,” suffered an attempt on his life, during which his car was struck by gunfire 10 times as he drove home in Santo Domingo at the end of a workday at a television station, and the authorities have yet to identify the person or persons responsible WHEREAS the Dominican Republic is suffering an evident deterioration of public safety reflected in the growing frequency and brazenness of violent and delinquent acts, which in turn constitute a heightened risk for the practice of journalism 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 concern over the impact that the deterioration of public safety has on the practice of journalism in the Dominican Republic and its possible implications for freedom of the press to ask the government of the Dominican Republic to take all necessary measures to guarantee the personal safety of journalists to request that authorities in the Dominican Republic make every possible effort to ensure that the murderers of Andujar and the would-be murderers of Cabral will be apprehended, brought to justice, and punished according to the provisions of the law.