WHEREAS regarding the case of Guillermo Cano (No. 11,728), one of the cases with greatest significance for Colombian society, the IAPA and the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights group, given the contradictory information that is held, asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for a working meeting to clarify at what stage is compliance with the obligations regarding justice, truth and reparations
WHEREAS regarding the case of Gerardo Bedoya (No. 12,909), murdered on March 21, 1997, in Colombia ,the IAPA is holding conversations with representatives of the government with the objective of looking into the possibility of reaching an amicable solution, for which there will be submitted a proposal of commitments whose compliance is aimed at the search for justice and to provide moral and material reparations to the journalist's family members and his memory
WHEREAS in the case of Aristeu Guida da Silva (No. 12,213), murdered on May 12, 1995, in Brazil, the IAPA held a working meeting with representatives of the government and of the IACHR in which there were inquiries about compliance with the 2016 recommendations that establish the holding of a full investigation into the murder, ordering disciplinary actions against officials who contributed to the denial of justice, strengthening the system of protection and prevention of crimes against journalists and providing moral and material reparations to the family members
WHEREAS the IAPA decided to once again bring before the IACHR the cases of Mexican journalists Héctor Félix Miranda (No. 11,739), Víctor Manuel Oropeza (No. 11,740), Benjamín Flores González (No. P-393-00), Francisco Ortiz Franco (No. P-1025-10) and José Alfredo Jiménez Mota (No. 13,007), due to the fact that they have shown no advance
WHEREAS in the cases of Juan Carlos Encinas (No. 13,544), murdered on July 29, 2001, and Carlos Quispe Quispe (No. 13,545), murdered on March 27, 2008, in Bolivia, the IACHR announced to the IAPA that it had approved reports of admissibility
WHEREAS since 1997 the IAPA has submitted to the IACHR 29 investigations into murders of journalists in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Paraguay, with the intention that they not remain unpunished
WHEREAS the Declaration of Chapultepec and the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression establish in their principles 4 and 9, respectively, that the murder of journalists violates fundamental rights and severely limits freedom of expression and of the press
THE IAPA MIDYEAR MEETING RESOLVES
to express satisfaction to the IACHR Court for having allowed the judicial process on the Nelson Carvajal case that could result in a sentence that would mark a before and after in the fight against impunity regarding the murders of journalists
to express satisfaction to the IACHR at the acceleration of all the proceedings that the IAPA has submitted as petitioner and of other violations of press freedom in order to create relevant precedents that will serve to solidify press freedom and the practice of journalism in the Americas.
