Impunity Mexico

Aa
$.-
WHEREAS despite the fact that the legal reform allowing the Office of the Attorney General to assume jurisdiction over cases involving attacks on freedom of expression has now been in effect for five months, the entity has yet to step in to investigate and solve any such cases WHEREAS the Office of the Attorney General has been ineffective in investigating and prosecuting those responsible for attacks on journalists and media outlets in Mexico, and it has not solved the cases it is handling, with its recent progress report showing that in the first six months of the new administration it handled 159 pre-trial investigations, of which 25% (41) ended in the dismissal of charges, only 6.9% (11) were referred to judges, and the remainder (107) are still pending WHEREAS the Office of the Attorney General, which houses the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Crimes Against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE), has jurisdiction over the files for at least 18 important cases, including pre-trial documents and incident reports, in connection with assaults, disappearances and killings of journalists from 1997 to the president, and none of these investigations is known to have yielded any results, much less to has any of them gone to trial to secure convictions against all those involved in planning and carrying out the killings of the following journalists: Jesús Blancornelas, José Ramírez Puente, Francisco Ortiz Franco, Francisco Arratia Saldierna, Alfredo Jiménez Mota, Raúl Gibb Guerrero, Guadalupe García Escamilla, Enrique Perea Quintanilla, Bradley Ronald Will, Rodolfo Rincón Taracena, Armando Ramírez Dillanes, Felícitas Martínez, Teresa Bautista Flores, Armando Rodríguez Carreón, Carlos Ortega Samper, Eliseo Barrón Hernández, María Esther Aguilar Casimbe and Valentín Valdés Espinosa WHEREAS the internal restructuring of the Office of the Attorney General, announced in December 2012, has not yet materialized, and as a result the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Crimes Against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE) lacks the financial and human resources it needs to become a truly effective and efficient investigative body WHEREAS Marco Antonio Quiñones, who was one of the gunmen who attacked Jesús Blancornelas, editor of the weekly magazine Zeta, and killed his driver, Luis Valero, was acquitted in early September because the Office of the Attorney General did not provide conclusive proof of his involvement, and as a result the crime has gone completely unpunished, since only one person is currently standing trial and no one has been convicted; in addition, seven drug traffickers identified by the authorities have not been brought to trial even though they were arrested in connection with other crimes WHEREAS the Inter American Press Association maintains that President Enrique Peña Nieto’s stated commitment to fully uphold freedom of expression in Mexico should translate into full compliance with the resolutions of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in connection with the killings of Héctor Félix Miranda and Víctor Manuel Oropeza; and to ensure secure conditions for journalists throughout the country, though with greater emphasis on the states of Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Zacatecas, Guerrero, Michoacán, Tabasco and Chihuahua, where journalists and media outlets are under serious threat; as well as for users of social networking sites who call attention to the lack of security or to acts of corruption, so that none of them is dissuaded from speaking out on account of fear WHEREAS the Special Commission to Monitor Cases of Assault on Journalists and Media Outlets, established in the Mexican Senate in February 2013, has not yet summoned the attorney general or the special prosecutor for crimes against freedom of expression to learn about the status of the investigations; nor has the special commission met with those in charge of the protection program for journalists, which was created under the Ministry of the Interior and continues to be ineffective WHEREAS the protection program for journalists was started two years ago under the Interior Ministry to address severe threats pursuant to the Law for the Protection of Human Rights Advocates and Journalists, and to prevent attacks on journalists, but its effectiveness has been deficient amid the displacement of journalists from their places of origin as a result of threats WHEREAS the demonstrations that have taken place in various cities in Mexico since December 2012 have become increasingly violent for journalists, and the police have committed abuses against journalists in their efforts to contain and disperse the demonstrators WHEREAS the IAPA has been monitoring every case involving the killing or disappearance of journalists for reasons related to their work, and therefore can state that those responsible for these crimes have not been investigated, arrested and tried in 40% of the states in Mexico, and this inaction of state prosecutors’ offices in Coahuila, Guerrero, Sonora, Jalisco, Oaxaca, Tamaulipas, Michoacán, Veracruz, Sinaloa, Tabasco, Nuevo León and Durango has encouraged the impunity that fuels and exacerbates the lack of security for journalists in Mexico 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 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAPA RESOLVES To demand that the attorney general of Mexico provide a detailed report on the cases involving attacks on freedom of expression for which charges have been dismissed, the cases deemed to have been solved, and the cases that are still pending even though they are more than 10 years old, in order to ensure that the lack of transparency in these investigations does not continue to be a factor encouraging impunity To urge the attorney general to pursue and solve the 18 cases involving the killing or disappearance of journalists by bringing to trial those responsible for these crimes, which have been under its jurisdiction since 1997 and for which not all of the perpetrators are behind bars serving final sentences To demand that the attorney general of Mexico, in view of the severe lack of security for journalists and media outlets, and as part of the restructuring of the Office of the Attorney General, bestow the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Crimes Against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE) with sufficient legal powers and with the human and material resources it needs to handle cases involving attacks on freedom of expression in a thorough, timely and speedy manner, and to ensure that FEADLE does not continue to be ineffective, seven years into its existence To demand that the attorney general ensure that the attack on Jesús Blancornelas and the killing of Luis Valero do not go unpunished; that he use evidentiary proceedings to prevent the release of Marco Antonio Quiñones, identified by the Office of the Attorney General as one of those who carried out the attack; that it proceed resolutely in the prosecution of Alfredo Araujo Ávila in this case; and that the Office of the Attorney General bring to trial the rest of the culprits: Benjamín Arellano Félix, Alberto González Ortega, Saúl Montes de Oca Morlet, Jorge Alberto Márquez, Isaac Guevara Hernández, Fabián Martínez and David Corona Barrón To urge President Enrique Peña Nieto and Interior Minister Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong to comply, as an urgent matter, with the resolutions of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in connection with the killings of Héctor Félix Miranda and Víctor Manuel Oropeza, so as to ensure that these killings do not go unpunished To urge President Enrique Peña Nieto and Interior Minister Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong to carry out, in conjunction with state authorities, the measures needed to uphold the freedom to practice journalism in the states of Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Zacatecas, Guerrero, Michoacán, Tabasco and Chihuahua, so as to ensure that no more journalists are killed or kidnapped and that media outlets suffer no further attacks, and to ensure that freedom of expression may be enjoyed under fully secure conditions To again encourage President Enrique Peña Nieto to ensure that, in the framework of the “Pact for Mexico” and as part of the programs being designed and implemented to prevent violence and combat the lack of security in Mexico, specific measures be included to protect freedom of expression as a right that is essential in a democracy, by implementing the necessary public policies and by working resolutely with the states to solve cases involving the killing and disappearance of journalists, as to put an end to these grave circumstances of impunity To urge the Senate’s Special Committee for Monitoring Cases of Assault on Journalists and Media Outlets to subpoena the attorney general, the special prosecutor for crimes against freedom of expression, and the head of the Interior Ministry’s protection program for journalists in order to obtain a detailed report on each of the cases they are pursuing and to question them about the progress in these cases To demand that the person who heads up the Interior Ministry’s protection program for journalists uphold his duty to take prompt, effective and transparent measures to protect freedom of expression from the threats facing it To demand that the federal government and the governments of Veracruz and Mexico City provide training to their police forces to ensure that they are familiar with and can properly implement the protocols for the use of force in dealing with demonstrations; and to their prosecutors’ offices in the implementation of reforms related to human rights; and that they organize training workshops for journalists covering such matters, so as to reduce the risks faced by journalists in gathering and reporting the news To urge the judicial branch at the federal and state levels to raise awareness among judges on how to implement the constitutional reforms and international agreements ratified by Mexico in relation to human rights, so as to ensure that they are unremitting in their enforcement of these provisions against violators of human rights, particularly against those who commit attacks on freedom of expression and the public’s right to be informed To urge the state prosecutors’ offices in Coahuila, Guerrero, Sonora, Jalisco, Oaxaca, Tamaulipas, Michoacán, Veracruz, Sinaloa, Tabasco, Nuevo León and Durango to comply with the law and solve the cases involving the killing or disappearance of journalists, so as to curb and reverse the impunity that currently prevails in Mexico.    

Share

0