Resolution to the Midyear Meeting
Panama, Panama
March 6 - 9, 2015
WHEREAS
from October 2014 to date eight journalists have been murdered: two in Colombia, two in Honduras, two in Mexico and one in Paraguay and Peru
WHEREAS
Edgar Quintero, Radio Luna reporter in the city of Palmira, Valle del Cauca, Colombia was murdered on March 2, 2015
WHEREAS
Luis Peralta Cuéllar, owner of radio station Linda Stereo 95.1 FM in El Doncello, Caquetá, Colombia, was murdered on February 14, 2015
Carlos Fernández, host of a newscast on Canal 27 television in Roatán, Honduras, was murdered on February 5, 2015
WHEREAS
Reynaldo Paz, journalist and owner of Canal 28 television in Comayagua, Comayagua province, Honduras, was murdered on December 15, 2014
WHEREAS
WHEREAS
Moisés Sánchez Cerezo, editor of the community weekly newspaper La Unión in the city of Medellín de Bravo, Veracruz state, Mexico, went missing on January 2, 2015, his body being found on January 24, 2015
WHEREAS
Jesús Antonio Gamboa Urías, editor and reporter of the magazine Nueva Prensa in Sinaloa, Mexico, went missing on October 10, 2014, his body being found on October 22
WHEREAS
Gerardo Servián, reporter of Radio Ciudad Nueva 103.3 FM in Zanja Pyta, Amambay, Paraguay, was muredered on March 5, 2015, in the city of Ponta Porá, near the border with Brazil
WHEREAS
Fernando Raymondi, a journalism student and intern at the magazine Caretas, was murdered in a confused incident on November 9, 2014, in San Vicente de Cañete, Peru
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 IAPA MIDYEAR MEETING RESOLVES
To condemn the murders of journalists in Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru and call on the governments of those countries to continue their investigations into the crimes until those responsible are identified and justice is strictly applied, on the understanding that swift investigation to determine if the motives for the murders were linked to work as journalists and to punish those responsible are the best mechanisms for protecting journalists and combating impunity.