IAPA protests excessive use of force in action against Vanguardia editor in Mexico
MIAMI, Florida (May 10, 2016)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today condemned what it described as excessive use of force during a police operation at a property owned by the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Vanguardia in Coahuila, Mexico, who last week had complained of his reporters being subjected to intimidation and surveillance.
In a note sent today to Coahuila State Governor Rubén Moreira Valdez the chairman of the IAPA's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Claudio Paolillo, decried the exaggerated forceful entry with heavy machinery and firearms on May 6 that involved some 30 officers of the elite police group, Coahuila Force, and another 30 civilians, which he said was "only comparable to what can be imposed upon a criminal."
The armed commando unit of the Coahuila Government Department in northeast Mexico stormed violently into a property of the Vanguardia editor, Armando Castilla Galindo, in Saltillo city. The raid was carried out in compliance with a court order concerning a mortgage loan claim.
Paolillo, editor of the Montevideo, Uruguay, weekly Búsqueda, complained to the Governor about the obstruction to "Castilla Galindo's right to defense, preventing him together with his legal representative from entering his property" during the operation.
"The exaggerated manner in which this action was carried out gives ruse to suspicions of possible reprisals against the newspaper and its journalists, it occurring just a few days after the complaint of defamation, surveillance and intimidation of its reporters," which led to a request for precautionary measures on the part of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) to ensure the personal integrity of Vanguardia's staff, installations and equipment, Paolillo added.
Paolillo told the Governor he was confident that "this kind of forceful action would not be repeated" and asked that "there be respected all the guarantees of due process that Mr. Castilla Galindo has, like any other citizen protected by the Constitution" and that the protective measures requested by the CNDH be put into effect.
The IAPA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 print publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida. For more information please go to http://www.sipiapa.org.
