Impunity - Argentina, Ecuador, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Venezuela

WHEREAS this assembly has approved several resolutions directed at the Argentine authorities expressing its concern about the release of those convicted of the murder of photographer José Luis Cabezas who received a controversial sentence reduction WHEREAS Robenson Laraque, a reporter for the channel Tele Contact of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, died on April 4, 2005 after being injured on March 20 while covering a shootout in Petit-Goâve between former soldiers and United Nations peacekeeping forces in Haiti WHEREAS Dominican journalist Juan Andújar was murdered on September 14, 2004 in the Dominican Republic and the crime has not yet been solved WHEREAS Narciso González, a columnist and university professor, was abducted in the Dominican Republic on May 26, 1994 and remains missing, and no law enforcement representative has admitted that he was taken, despite the statements of witnesses and an appeals court’s rejection of the testimony and evidence against those implicated in his disappearance; this trial has been at a standstill for several years WHEREAS Dominican journalists Orlando Martínez and Gregorio García Castro were murdered in the ‘70s and justice has not yet been done WHEREAS Mauro Marcano, a city councilman and a reporter for Radio Maturín in Maturín, Monagas, Venezuela, was killed on September 1, 2004, and the case of Jorge Tortoza, a photojournalist for the newspaper 2001 who was murdered in Caracas on April 11, 2002, remains unsolved 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 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAPA RESOLVES to deplore the release of those convicted of the murder of José Luis Cabezas and to express confidence that conditions will be created so the culprits are severely punished to urge the Haitian government to report on the outcome of its investigation into the incident in which Robenson Laraque was injured to ask the Dominican authorities to expedite the proceedings against journalists Narciso González, Juan Andújar, Orlando Martínez, Euri Cabral and Gregorio García Castro until they are completed to insist that the Venezuelan authorities continue investigating the murders of Mauro Marcano and Jorge Tortoza and that the culprits be brought to justice.