WHEREAS, since the November 2023 General Assembly, seven journalists have been murdered for apparent reasons related to their professional work: two in Guatemala and Honduras and one each in Colombia, Haiti, and Mexico
WHEREAS, in Colombia, journalist Mardonio Mejía, director of the local radio station Sonora Estéreo in San Pedro, department of Sucre, was murdered on January 24, and following his death, the primary channel that citizens had for accessing information about the area was shut down
WHEREAS, two journalists were murdered in Guatemala in different armed attacks on December 21: Gleymer Renán Villeda, Facebook administrator of the news page Impacto Izabal, in the municipality of Izabal, department of Izabal, and César Augusto Leiva Pimentel, announcer and radio journalist La Red and president of the Jutiapa Announcers Association, in the city of Jutiapa, department of Jutiapa
WHEREAS, in Haiti, journalist Nerval Pierre Viliat, a reporter for the online news agency Échonews, was killed during a shootout between police and armed gangs on March 21 in the commune of Delmas, in the Port-au-Prince district, a conflict zone, and died of his wounds on March 24
WHEREAS, two journalists were murdered in Honduras: Luis Alonso Teruel Vega, presenter of a political program on the Pecaligüe TV channel, on January 28, in the town of Atima, Santa Bárbara province, and Francisco Javier Ramírez Amador, reporter and presenter of the Canal 24 news program in Danlí, on December 21 in the city of Danlí, El Paraíso department
WHEREAS, in Mexico, photojournalist Ismael Villagómez of El Heraldo de Juárez was murdered on November 16, in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, covering urban and migration issues
WHEREAS, in addition to the constant insecurity in which journalists carry out their work, there is little government protection and impunity for aggressors, which encourages violence
WHEREAS Principle 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec establishes that "murder, terrorism, kidnapping, pressure, intimidation, unjust imprisonment of journalists, material destruction of the media, violence of any kind and impunity for aggressors severely curtail freedom of expression and of the press" and that "these acts should be promptly investigated and severely punished."
THE IAPA MID-YEAR MEETING RESOLVES
Condemn the murders of Mardonio Mejía in Colombia; Gleymer Renán Villeda and César Augusto Leiva Pimentel in Guatemala; Nerval Pierre Viliat in Haiti; Luis Alonso Teruel Vega and Francisco Javier Ramírez Amador in Honduras; and Ismael Villagómez, in Mexico
Urge the governments of Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, and Mexico to comply with their responsibility to identify the material and intellectual authors of the murders and acts of violence, and that the motives for the crimes are known and the corresponding sanctions are applied so that they do not go unpunished
Urge the approval of initiatives to guarantee the protection of journalists and other media workers, and where such mechanisms already exist, to strengthen and provide the necessary resources to fulfill the mission for which they were created.
