Impunity - Peru

WHEREAS journalist Alberto Rivera Fernández of Radio Oriental in Pucallpa was murdered in April 2004 as a result of his reporting on the involvement of local authorities in drug trafficking and corruption WHEREAS the recent work carried out by the two joint missions of the Inter American Press Association and the Peruvian Press Council was well received by the courts, the police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office WHEREAS in recent days one of the perpetrators of the crime was arrested and the other turned himself in to the Ucayali regional authorities in Pucallpa WHEREAS the perpetrators of the crime have incriminated two government figures in Rivera’s murder: Solio Ramírez, the chief justice of the Civil Court of Ucayali, and Luis Valdez Villacorta, head of Coronel Portillo province WHEREAS these two individuals who have been implicated in Rivera’s murder are directly or indirectly linked to the judiciary in the region 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 demand that Peruvian Supreme Court Justice Walter Vásquez Vejarano and Attorney General Nelly Calderón take necessary measures to guarantee that the trial for Rivera’s murder will be conducted in an impartial manner so that the masterminds are brought to justice for their crimes — a guarantee that is lacking under current circumstances.