IMPUNITY/PERU

WHEREAS April 21, 2004, Alberto Rivera Fernández, host of the program Transparencia on Frecuencia Oriental radio in Pucallpa, was murdered. WHEREAS The hit men were convicted, but not the presumed instigators of the crime, and in the oral trial of the latter, numerous irregularities were alleged. WHEREAS Principle 4 of The Declaration of Chapultepec states: “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 MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES To express to judicial authorities in Peru its profound concern over impunity in the murder of journalist Alberto Rivera Fernandez; To urge authorities to investigate and sanction those responsible for the irregularities that occurred in the oral trial of the presumed instigators of the crime against Rivera Fernández; To call upon the President of the Supreme Court, Dr. Javier Villa Stein, to set up the necessary mechanisms to guarantee due process in the crimes against Freedom of the Press and Expression, as agreed during the Hemispheric Conference “The Judiciary, the Press and Impunity,” held in Santo Domingo in July, 2007.