Mexican journalists are killed ‘for almost any reason’

Organizations defending the right to information and specialists in freedom of expression in Mexico expressed their concern at the constant threats and attacks on journalists and at the state of violence unleashed against the press. They also felt that Mexican journalists are killed “for almost any reason.” In a document titled “The Right to Freedom of Expression and the Practice of Journalism,” published by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Mexico and issued on January 12 it was stated that local news men and women are murdered “for almost any reason” and it identified the states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Coahuila, Sinaloa and Chihuahua as the most dangerous places in the country to work as a journalist. The report says that Mexican journalists, mainly those in the provinces, work under conditions of lack of protection and defenselessness, which limits how they do their job, turning investigative reporting into a complex task because news sources have also clammed up. According to civil organizations so far in the six-year term of President Felipe Calderón a total of 30 journalists have been murdered – 11 in 2010 – and 65 in the last decade, while 12 others remain missing. No case has been solved. The full document, prepared by representatives of Cenco, Artículo 19 and journalists and experts in freedom of expression matters, can be viewed at www.hchr.org.mx.