Impunity - Mexico

WHEREAS in the case of Benjamín González Flores, murdered on July 15, 1997, the authorities decided to open only one line of investigation which indicated that the person behind the crime was presumed drug trafficker Jaime González Gutiérrez, who now has been released and no other hypotheses have been explored WHEREAS four men accused of the murder of the journalist remain in jail awaiting a verdict while the United States apprehended the brothers of Jaime González, one of whom, according to authorities, organized the killing 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 ask the government of Sonora state to review the investigation and the legal proceedings as well as the hypotheses that it ruled out and which could have attributed the murder to other people to ask the state government to obtain the extradition of Gabriel González Gutiérrez, so he can testify in the case and to review the conduct of the Public Prosecutor’s Office which drew up the case against Jaime González to call on the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, through documents submitted by the IAPA, to pressure Mexican authorities to solve the murder of Benjamín González Flores.