IMPUNITY/PERU

WHEREAS more than 50 journalists have been killed in Peru since 1982, and most of these killings remain unpunished despite the fact that the powers of the special “supra-provincial” criminal courts and prosecutor’s offices in Lima were expanded in 2010 to enable them to take on crimes against journalists WHEREAS in June 2013 the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Ayacucho reopened the investigation into the November 24, 1988 killing of Hugo Bustíos Saavedra, a correspondent for Caretas magazine in Ayacucho, and initiated a proceeding against Gen. Daniel Urresti Elera (ret.), who was the interior minister at the time, for his alleged responsibility for the crime; the journalist was ambushed and killed by members of the Army stationed at the Castropampa military base in Huanta, Ayacucho WHEREAS the Third Superior Criminal Prosecutor’s Office is seeking a 25-year prison term and an order to pay 500,000 soles in reparations against the former minister of the current administration of President Ollanta Humala Tasso in the trial that is now underway in the National Criminal Court 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 extend recognition to the members of the National Criminal Court for the diligence with which the trial is being conducted To request that the National Criminal Court carry out all the necessary proceedings in order to solve the case, so as to ensure that those who ordered and carried out the killing are brought to justice for their actions, and that the crime does not go unpunished.