PARIS - A major international newspaper organization has condemned the Mexican government for not prosecuting the killers of dozens of journalists that have been murdered in that country over the past 9 years.
The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) which represents 18,000 news publications around the globe said in a resolution drafted in Barcelona, Spain today that there is a "climate of impunity" in Mexico which makes the job of journalists and editors that work there very "dangerous" and called on Mexican President Felipe Calderon to bring the killers to justice.
"WAN [is] 'appalled' by the murders of 29 journalists in Mexico since 2000. A further eight are missing, and many others have been attacked and threatened," the statement read. "[WAN urges President Calderon] to take all necessary steps to ensure that killers and all those who have protected them are swiftly brought to justice."
According to WAN the most recent death of a journalist in Mexico ironically occurred on World Press Freedom Day, May 3, where Ortega Melo Samper, a journalist for the newspaper El Tiempo de Durango in northern Mexico, was murdered by a unidentified gunman. WAN stated that "shortly before Melo died, he had received threats from local authorities in relation to his investigative reporting exposing corruption. Mr. Melo Samper claimed in an article that had not yet been published that the local mayor and another senior politician would be responsible should any harm come to him.”
WAN also described the death of Martín Velázquez González, a reporter for the monthly newspaper Sin Fronteras in Tabasco state on May 1. According to WAN, "[Gonzalez] was injured in a machete attack while distributing copies of the newspaper that reported on allegations of the misuse of public resources by a local Congressman."
The organization also issues four other resolutions including condemnations to the governments of Malaysia and Yemen for intimidating reporters and violation their press freedom. The group also expressed their concern for the death of two journalists in Somalia, plus the arrest of "at least seven others" since the beginning of the year.
Article by Dolores M. Bernal, acejournalist@gmail.com
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