WHEREAS from April 2017 to date there have been murdered nine journalists in the region – seven in Mexico and two in Honduras
WHEREAS Édgar Daniel Esqueda Castro, news photographer of the media Vox Populi and Metrópoli San Luis of San Luis Potosí, Mexico, was kidnapped on October 5 and his body was found the following day
WHEREAS Carlos Williams Flores, who worked at Canal 22 television and hosted the program "Sin pelos en la lengua" (Not Mincing Words) in Cuyamel, Cortes province, Honduras, was murdered on September 13
WHEREAS Juan Carlos Hernández, stringer photographer and newsroom assistant on the news portal La Bandera Noticias in Yuriria, Guanajuato, Mexico, was murdered on September 5
WHEREAS Cándido Ríos, reporter with Diario de Acayucan newspaper, Acayucan, Veracruz, Mexico, was murdered on August 22
WHEREAS Salvador Adame Pardo, founder and general director of the portal Canal 6 Media TV in Francisco J. Múgica, Michoacán, Mexico, was kidnapped on May 18 and his body was found on June 26
WHEREAS Víctor Fúnez, who hosted the program Informe Nocturno (Night Report) broadcast on Canal 45 TV in La Ceiba, Atlántida, Honduras, was murdered on June 15
WHEREAS Javier Valdez, correspondent of La Jornada and co-founder of the weekly Río Doce in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico, was murdered on May 15
WHEREAS Jonathan Rodríguez, reporter with the weekly El Costeño in Autlán, Jalisco, Mexico, was murdered on May 15
WHEREAS Maximino Rodríguez Palacios, journalist with the portal Colectivo Perica and writer of the column "Es mi opinión" (It Is My Opinion), La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, was murdered on April 14
WHEREAS punished were the perpetrators of the murder of journalists Flor Alba Núñez in Colombia and of Danilo López and Francisco Salazar in Guatemala
WHEREAS in Colombia statute of limitations was applied in two cases of the murder of journalists, those of Santiago Rodríguez Villalba on February 2 and of Freddy Elles Ahumada on March 18, and it is feared that this will also apply to those of Alejandro Jaramillo Barbosa on October 24, Francisco Castro Menco on November 8 and Jairo Elías Márquez Gallego on November 20
WHEREAS the case of Gerardo Bedoya, murdered on March 20, 1997 in Colombia, was declared on March 2 to be a crime against humanity, thus preventing its becoming subject to statute of limitations, and the government showed willingness to initiate a dialogue with the IAPA to reach an amicable settlement
WHEREAS Principle 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec establishes: "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 73rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAPA RESOLVES
to condemn the murders of journalists Édgar Daniel Esqueda Castro, Juan Carlos Hernández, Cándido Ríos, Salvador Adame Pardo, Javier Valdez, Jonathan Rodríguez y Maximino Rodríguez Palacios in México, and those of Carlos Williams Flores and Víctor Fúnez in Honduras
to urge the governments and authorities of Mexico and Honduras to comply with their responsibility to investigate, identify the perpetrators and masterminds and apply the corresponding punishments to those involved in these crimes
to underscore that the murder of journalists and news media workers constitutes an extreme form of censorship and that the lack of justice and punishment encourages other acts of violence, leading to self-censorship as a means of defense and generating an inhibiting effect in the exercise of freedom of expression as what has been established by international bodies
to urge the authorities of Colombia and Guatemala to continue the investigations in the cases of Flor Alba Nuñez, Danilo López and Francisco Salazar, until identifying, placing on trial and punishing the instigators of these crimes
to make a call to the government of Colombia to comply with its public commitment to bring justice in the crimes against journalists, with the objective of preventing the expiration of the deadlines for sentencing thus leaving these murders in total impunity
to show satisfaction at the declaration of crime against humanity in the Gerardo Bedoya case and accept the proposal of the government of Colombia to initiate a dialogue that leads to reaching an amicable settlement
to reiterate that solidarity and timely denunciation is one of the principal antidotes to counteract violence and murders of journalists.
