WHEREAS
U.S. reporter Phillip True, Mexico correspondent of the San Antonio Express-News, was murdered in the state of Jalisco in December of 1998
WHEREAS
Principle 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec says freedom of expression and the press are severely limited by murder and any kind of violence against journalists and all such crimes must be investigated promptly and punished harshly with no impunity for perpetrators
WHEREAS
in May 1999 an IAPA mission visited the governor and attorney general of the state of Jalisco to urge that the respective investigation be completed; both Mexican officials pledged to solve the case by the end of the year
WHEREAS
Mexican authorities arrested two suspects in December 1998 for the murder of Phillip True, both of whom confessed, although there are human rights complaints that the confessions were coerced
WHEREAS
in January 2000 the judge in charge of the investigation into the murder of the journalist was either removed or resigned without any explanation or public announcement, this was disclosed by sources of the San Antonio Express-News.
THE IAPA EXECUTIVE BOARD RESOLVES
to request the governor and attorney general of the state of Jalisco to clarify why the judge handling the case was removed and to take corrective measures
to urge these officials to use all necessary resources to swiftly bring those responsible for the murder of Phillip True to justice.
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