Impunity - Guatemala

WHEREAS the Guatemalan government recognized the state’s responsibility in the crime against Irma Flaquer, who disappeared on October 16, 1980, a case which has been investigated by the Inter American Press Association since the establishment in 1995 of the Unpunished Crimes Against Journalists project WHEREAS the Guatemalan government proposed to the Inter American Press Association an amicable solution through the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, to which the case was submitted in 1997 WHEREAS Principle 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states that “freedom of expression and of the press are severely limited by murder, terrorism, kidnapping, 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 convey its satisfaction to the government of Guatemala for having accepted its responsibility and negligence during the investigation of the crime, steps which generate confidence that the disappearance of Irma Flaquer will be solved to ask the government of Guatemala, that beyond an amicable resolution acceptable to both parties in which the position of Irma Flaquer’s immediate family is included, continue its official investigation until it identifies the killers and those behind the slaying.