Impunity / Murders

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WHEREAS between March and November of 2009, 16 journalists were killed in the Americas for reasons that might be connected to their work: eight in Mexico, three in Honduras, two in Colombia, two in Guatemala and one in El Salvador WHEREAS in Mexico, the violence of organized crime left eight journalists dead: : Bladimir Antuna García, a reporter for the daily El Tiempo of Durango, in Durango, November 2, 2009; Fabián Ramírez López, an announcer at radio station La Magia 97.1,in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, October 11, 2009; Norberto Miranda Madrid, journalist and news director of the digital Radio Visión and correspondent of the daily El Heraldo, in Chihuahua, September 23, 2009; Juan Daniel Martínez Gil, news anchor of “W Guerrero” y “Guerrero en vivo” of radio station Radiorama, in Acapulco, Guerrero, July 28, 2009; Ernesto Montañez Valdivia, editor of Enfoque magazine of the daily El Sol de Chihuahua, in Chihuahua, July 14 , 2009; Martín Javier Miranda Avilés, reporter for the newspaper Panorama and correspondent of the news agency Quadratin, in Michoacán, July 12, 2009; Eliseo Barrón Hernández, reporter for the daily La Opinión Milenio, in Coahuila, May 26, 2009, and Carlos Ortega Melo Samper, correspondent of El Tiempo, in Durango, México, May 3, 2009; WHEREAS three journalists were killed in Honduras: Bernardo Rivera, journalist and politician, kidnapped on March 13 and his body was found on July 9, 2009; Gabriel Fino Noriega, reporter for Radio América, Radio Estelar and Canal 9, in Atlántida, July 3, 2009, y Rafael Munguía, correspondent of Radio Cadena Voces, San Pedro Sula, March 31 2009 WHEREAS two journalists were killed in Colombia: Diego Rojas Velásquez, reporter and cameraman of Supia TV, in Caldas, September 22, 2009, and José Everardo Aguilar, correspondent of radio station Radio Súper, in Cauca, April 24, 2009 WHEREAS two journalists were killed in Guatemala: Marco Antonio Estrada Orla, correspondent of the news program “Telediario” of Canal 3, Chiquimula on June 6, 2009, and Rolando Santics, reporter for the channel Telecentro 13, Guatemala City, April 1, 2009 WHEREAS Christian Poveda, French-Spanish photographer and documentary filmmaker, was killed on September 2, 2009 WHEREAS Article 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec says, “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 the authorities in Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, Guatemala and El Salvador adopt urgent and forceful means to guarantee the security of journalists, free practice of journalism and the public’s right to be informed to ask the authorities in Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, Guatemala and El Salvador to make a greater effort to prevent impunity by conducting in-depth investigations of the murders to determine the motives, define responsibilities, and to bring the masterminds and the hit men to justice.

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