World News Report: Police arrested a man “identified as Abraham Torres Tranquilino” for alleged involvement in the killing of Ruben Espinosa, rights activist Nadia Vera and three other female victims, Mexico City prosecutor Rodolfo Rios said in a statement.
Espinosa and the other victims were found dead on July 31 this year in a Mexico City apartment, their hands bound and their bodies bearing signs of torture. Read more.
The MexicoBlog of the CIP Americas Program monitors and analyzes international press on Mexico with a focus on the US-backed War on Drugs in Mexico and the struggle in Mexico to strengthen the rule of law, justice and protection of human rights. Relevant political developments in both countries are also covered.
Showing posts with label violence against journalists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label violence against journalists. Show all posts
May 7, 2015
Veracruz journalist shot dead after reporting on oil theft
Committee to Protect Journalists: The body of Veracruz radio journalist Armando Saldaña Morales was found on Monday in the neighboring Mexican state of Oaxaca, according to the Oaxaca state attorney general's office and news reports. The journalist had been shot dead, the reports said. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder and calls on authorities to identify the motive in the killing and ensure the perpetrators are held to account.
"Journalists have paid a high price for reporting the news in Mexico-they are routinely murdered or disappeared with total impunity," said Carlos Lauría, CPJ's senior program coordinator for the Americas, from New York. "Federal authorities must fully investigate this crime, look deeply into Armando Saldaña Morales' reporting as a possible motive, and bring those responsible to justice." Read more.
"Journalists have paid a high price for reporting the news in Mexico-they are routinely murdered or disappeared with total impunity," said Carlos Lauría, CPJ's senior program coordinator for the Americas, from New York. "Federal authorities must fully investigate this crime, look deeply into Armando Saldaña Morales' reporting as a possible motive, and bring those responsible to justice." Read more.
Feb 25, 2015
Murders, threats and duopoly: the state of press freedom in Mexico
The Guardian: On 2 January, journalist Moisés Sánchez was kidnapped by an armed group. Nine people with covered faces stormed into his house in Medellin de Bravo, a town in the wealthy eastern state of Veracruz. They searched and grabbed documents, and took Sánchez, along with his camera, laptop, mobile phone and tablet. The police took hours to come to the house. Sánchez was found dead 23 days later on the outskirts of the town.
Sánchez, editor of La Unión, is the eleventh journalist to be murdered in Veracruz since Governor Javier Duarte de Ochoa took office on 1 December 2010. As well as murders, four media professionals have gone missing and there have been 132 attacks against the local press in the same period. Read more.
Sánchez, editor of La Unión, is the eleventh journalist to be murdered in Veracruz since Governor Javier Duarte de Ochoa took office on 1 December 2010. As well as murders, four media professionals have gone missing and there have been 132 attacks against the local press in the same period. Read more.
Aug 17, 2014
Borderland Beat: Mexico questions travel alert issued by U.S.-cites EPN's "impressive results"
Borderland Beat: Mexico's government, questioned the travel alert issued by the United States in which it cites warnings of the risk of violence prevailing in 19 states. Mexico's position is that the information must be contextualized and detailed to be useful to US countrymen.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) pointed out that the security strategy of President Enrique Peña Nieto has achieved "impressive results", as reflected in the reduction of 22 percent in the number of incidents of kidnapping, compared to last year. Read more.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) pointed out that the security strategy of President Enrique Peña Nieto has achieved "impressive results", as reflected in the reduction of 22 percent in the number of incidents of kidnapping, compared to last year. Read more.
Aug 15, 2014
Latin American Herald Tribune - Sexism of Authorities Aggravates Violence Against Women Journalists in Mexico
Latin American Herald Tribune: The sexism of Mexican authorities generates impunity and has led to a 300 percent increase in violence against women journalists in just a decade, according to a report presented by an NGO.
In the last few years 86 cases of violence against women journalists were reported, of which 54 percent occurred in 2013, the study by the Communication and Information for Women organization (CIMAC) revealed. Read more.
In the last few years 86 cases of violence against women journalists were reported, of which 54 percent occurred in 2013, the study by the Communication and Information for Women organization (CIMAC) revealed. Read more.
Aug 7, 2014
Mexican Authorities Extend Protection to Journalist
Latin American Herald Tribune: Police in Mexico have extended protection to a journalist whose 12-year-old son was fatally shot last week in an attack on the family’s home.
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders issued a statement earlier this week calling on Mexican authorities to protect Indalecio Benitez, director of La Calentana Mexiquense, a community radio station in the central state of Mexico. Read more.
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders issued a statement earlier this week calling on Mexican authorities to protect Indalecio Benitez, director of La Calentana Mexiquense, a community radio station in the central state of Mexico. Read more.
Apr 29, 2014
Mexico Lags in Taking Steps to Protect Journalists, According to Several Reports
April 28, 2014
Justice in Mexico
According to a recent review by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Mexico ranks in the bottom seven countries worldwide in its efforts to investigate and punish crimes against journalists. With this ranking, Mexico remains in the same position it found itself in 2013 in CPJ’s Global Impunity Index, ranking above only Iraq, Somalia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Syria, and Afghanistan.
CPJ found that Mexico has 0.132 unsolved murders of journalists per million inhabitants. By comparison, Iraq, at the bottom of the list, had 3.067 unsolved murders per million inhabitants. Afghanistan, ranking 6th, had 0.168, while India (13th) had just 0.006. Colombia and Brazil were the only other Latin American countries included on the list, with Colombia ranking one spot below Mexico, with 0.126 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants, and Brazil at the 11th position, with 0.045. CPJ criticized that “justice continued to evade Mexican journalists who face unrelenting violence for reporting on crime and corruption.” The organization reports 16 journalists killed with impunity during the past ten years, with one killed in 2014, though other groups, including Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission (Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos, CNDH) estimate the number to be much higher. CPJ did recognize Mexico’s efforts last April to create a special federal prosecutor for pursuing crimes against journalists that circumvents what it deems “more corrupt and less effective state law enforcement officials.” Nevertheless, it says, many criticize that the new office has thus far been slow to implement its new authority. The report points out the failed prosecution in the case of Proceso reporter Regina Martínez Pérez, killed in 2012, in which some, including the editorial board of Proceso, believe that the wrong person was convicted for her murder. It also mentions the dismissal of charges last September against one of the men alleged to have gunned down Zeta magazine editor J. Jesús Blancornelas in 1997. These shortcomings, says CPJ, “further fueled concerns that the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto is not up to the task of breaking Mexico’s cycle of impunity and violence.” Read more.
Justice in Mexico
According to a recent review by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Mexico ranks in the bottom seven countries worldwide in its efforts to investigate and punish crimes against journalists. With this ranking, Mexico remains in the same position it found itself in 2013 in CPJ’s Global Impunity Index, ranking above only Iraq, Somalia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Syria, and Afghanistan.
CPJ found that Mexico has 0.132 unsolved murders of journalists per million inhabitants. By comparison, Iraq, at the bottom of the list, had 3.067 unsolved murders per million inhabitants. Afghanistan, ranking 6th, had 0.168, while India (13th) had just 0.006. Colombia and Brazil were the only other Latin American countries included on the list, with Colombia ranking one spot below Mexico, with 0.126 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants, and Brazil at the 11th position, with 0.045. CPJ criticized that “justice continued to evade Mexican journalists who face unrelenting violence for reporting on crime and corruption.” The organization reports 16 journalists killed with impunity during the past ten years, with one killed in 2014, though other groups, including Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission (Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos, CNDH) estimate the number to be much higher. CPJ did recognize Mexico’s efforts last April to create a special federal prosecutor for pursuing crimes against journalists that circumvents what it deems “more corrupt and less effective state law enforcement officials.” Nevertheless, it says, many criticize that the new office has thus far been slow to implement its new authority. The report points out the failed prosecution in the case of Proceso reporter Regina Martínez Pérez, killed in 2012, in which some, including the editorial board of Proceso, believe that the wrong person was convicted for her murder. It also mentions the dismissal of charges last September against one of the men alleged to have gunned down Zeta magazine editor J. Jesús Blancornelas in 1997. These shortcomings, says CPJ, “further fueled concerns that the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto is not up to the task of breaking Mexico’s cycle of impunity and violence.” Read more.
Nov 8, 2013
Journalist: Drugs destroying Mexico
CNN
November 8th, 2013
Becky Anderson talks with Mexican investigative journalist Anabel Hernández about the country's war on drugs who also wrote an Op-ed for CNN.com. You can read it below:
Since December 2010, I have lived with death threats because I have documented and revealed corruption at the highest levels in the Mexican government. My family has been attacked, I have to live with bodyguards and some of my sources have been killed or are in jail.
But my case is just one of many. A large number of journalists and human rights activists - as well as those who denounce corruption in Mexico - receive similar threats or have been killed. And the biggest danger is not in fact the drug cartels, but rather the government and business officials that work for them and fear exposure.
My new book "Narcoland" is the result of five grueling years of research. Over this time I gradually became immersed in a shadowy world full of traps, lies, betrayals, and contradictions. Read more.
November 8th, 2013
Becky Anderson talks with Mexican investigative journalist Anabel Hernández about the country's war on drugs who also wrote an Op-ed for CNN.com. You can read it below:
Since December 2010, I have lived with death threats because I have documented and revealed corruption at the highest levels in the Mexican government. My family has been attacked, I have to live with bodyguards and some of my sources have been killed or are in jail.
But my case is just one of many. A large number of journalists and human rights activists - as well as those who denounce corruption in Mexico - receive similar threats or have been killed. And the biggest danger is not in fact the drug cartels, but rather the government and business officials that work for them and fear exposure.
My new book "Narcoland" is the result of five grueling years of research. Over this time I gradually became immersed in a shadowy world full of traps, lies, betrayals, and contradictions. Read more.
Oct 4, 2013
MORE THAN FIFTEEN JOURNALISTS ASSAULTED DURING MEXICO CITY MARCHES
Reporters Without Borders
October 3, 2013
Reporters Without Borders condemns the assault of more than fifteen journalists by demonstrators and police in Mexico City yesterday while they were covering parades marking the 45th anniversary of a student massacre in 1968. The figure is conservative.
“Reporters Without Borders calls on the Special Attorney’s office for Crimes against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE) to open independent investigations to get to the bottom of these assaults and punish those responsible,” the press freedom organization said.
“We have previously noted that that abuses directed at journalists covering demonstrations will continue unless they are punished. The trivialization of violence against journalists undermines media coverage of events of this nature. We point out that, without journalists, the demonstrators’ message would not be heard by the public.”
Guillermo Barros of the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) told Reporters Without Borders: “I was covering the parade when the police started hitting the demonstrators to disperse them. Even though I identified myself as a journalist, a police officer struck me on the head with his baton.” Read more.
October 3, 2013
Reporters Without Borders condemns the assault of more than fifteen journalists by demonstrators and police in Mexico City yesterday while they were covering parades marking the 45th anniversary of a student massacre in 1968. The figure is conservative.
“Reporters Without Borders calls on the Special Attorney’s office for Crimes against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE) to open independent investigations to get to the bottom of these assaults and punish those responsible,” the press freedom organization said.
“We have previously noted that that abuses directed at journalists covering demonstrations will continue unless they are punished. The trivialization of violence against journalists undermines media coverage of events of this nature. We point out that, without journalists, the demonstrators’ message would not be heard by the public.”
Guillermo Barros of the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) told Reporters Without Borders: “I was covering the parade when the police started hitting the demonstrators to disperse them. Even though I identified myself as a journalist, a police officer struck me on the head with his baton.” Read more.
Jul 19, 2013
Journalist found slain in Mexican state of Oaxaca
LA Times
By Richard Fausset and Cecilia Sanchez
July 17, 2013
A journalist who covered the police beat in the Mexican state of Oaxaca was found dead Wednesday, reportedly with gunshot wounds.
It was unclear whether Alberto Lopez Bello was attacked in retaliation for his work for El Imparcial, a newspaper in the city of Oaxaca, the state capital. The paper published a brief statement Wednesday demanding a thorough investigation and saying the killing “demonstrates the vulnerability to which communicators are exposed in their daily work of providing truthful and timely information to the citizenry.” [link in Spanish]
The Oaxacan state government said that Lopez's body was found along with the corpse of another man in Trinidad de Viguera, a city north of the Oaxacan capital. The news website Milenio reported that Lopez suffered gunshot wounds. Read more.
By Richard Fausset and Cecilia Sanchez
July 17, 2013
A journalist who covered the police beat in the Mexican state of Oaxaca was found dead Wednesday, reportedly with gunshot wounds.
It was unclear whether Alberto Lopez Bello was attacked in retaliation for his work for El Imparcial, a newspaper in the city of Oaxaca, the state capital. The paper published a brief statement Wednesday demanding a thorough investigation and saying the killing “demonstrates the vulnerability to which communicators are exposed in their daily work of providing truthful and timely information to the citizenry.” [link in Spanish]
The Oaxacan state government said that Lopez's body was found along with the corpse of another man in Trinidad de Viguera, a city north of the Oaxacan capital. The news website Milenio reported that Lopez suffered gunshot wounds. Read more.
Jun 30, 2013
Mexican reporter Marcela Turati calls on U.S. journalists to investigate trafficking networks north of the border
Note: Kudos to friend and colleague Marcela Turati for taking on the big taboo in the United States: corruption north of the border.
We've been arguing for years that "shared responsibility" means looking at how transnational crime makes nearly all its money within U.S. borders, crosses U.S. customs and launders its earnings in U.S. banks. It's time to take the concept of a real shared responsibility into journalism as well. Too many U.S. journalists come down here looking for lurid stories of gore or Mexican corruption, with clear racist overturns, perpetuating the myth of the pure US vs. degenerate Mexico. Congratulations to Marcela for the award, for her brave work and for her dedication to the truth. LEC
Knight Center: Why did acclaimed Mexican journalist Marcela Turati tell the story of death and threats against her colleagues during a ceremony recognizing the very best of investigative journalism in the U.S.?
We've been arguing for years that "shared responsibility" means looking at how transnational crime makes nearly all its money within U.S. borders, crosses U.S. customs and launders its earnings in U.S. banks. It's time to take the concept of a real shared responsibility into journalism as well. Too many U.S. journalists come down here looking for lurid stories of gore or Mexican corruption, with clear racist overturns, perpetuating the myth of the pure US vs. degenerate Mexico. Congratulations to Marcela for the award, for her brave work and for her dedication to the truth. LEC
Knight Center: Why did acclaimed Mexican journalist Marcela Turati tell the story of death and threats against her colleagues during a ceremony recognizing the very best of investigative journalism in the U.S.?
Because the problem of corruption and drug trafficking in
Mexico does not stop at the border, she said, and U.S. journalists must
own the story as well.
Turati said U.S. reporters often ask her how they can
help. More than anything, she said, American journalists should investigate corrupt government officials, local drug dealers and money
launderers here. Read More...
Apr 29, 2013
Mexican journalists, rights groups march against attacks in which scores have been slain
The Huffington Post
By Associated Press
April 28, 2013
XALAPA, Mexico — Officials in Veracruz state say they know who killed Regina Martinez. The muckraking reporter, found beaten and suffocated in her house, was just the victim of a robbery, according to prosecutors and a local court.
But many of her colleagues don’t believe it. The man convicted of the crime was tortured into a confession, they allege. And the magazine she works for says state officials discussed sending police across the country in an attempt to hunt down and seize another reporter who raised questions about the death, which is one of a growing list of killings that have put Mexico among the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist.
Some 400 people gathered Sunday in the center of Veracruz’s state capital, Xalapa, for a march to demand justice in the Martinez case and an end to attacks on the press. Many held up posters suggesting the government had a hand in the case, some describing it as “a state killing.” Dozens also protested in Mexico City.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in a February report that 12 Mexican journalists went missing in 2006-2012 and 14 were killed because of their work. Mexico’s federal Human Rights Commission lists 81 journalists killed since 2000. Read more.
By Associated Press
April 28, 2013
XALAPA, Mexico — Officials in Veracruz state say they know who killed Regina Martinez. The muckraking reporter, found beaten and suffocated in her house, was just the victim of a robbery, according to prosecutors and a local court.
But many of her colleagues don’t believe it. The man convicted of the crime was tortured into a confession, they allege. And the magazine she works for says state officials discussed sending police across the country in an attempt to hunt down and seize another reporter who raised questions about the death, which is one of a growing list of killings that have put Mexico among the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist.
Some 400 people gathered Sunday in the center of Veracruz’s state capital, Xalapa, for a march to demand justice in the Martinez case and an end to attacks on the press. Many held up posters suggesting the government had a hand in the case, some describing it as “a state killing.” Dozens also protested in Mexico City.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in a February report that 12 Mexican journalists went missing in 2006-2012 and 14 were killed because of their work. Mexico’s federal Human Rights Commission lists 81 journalists killed since 2000. Read more.
Full investigation needed in Mexican journalist's murder
Committee to Protect Journalists
Mexico City, April 25, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists joins journalists with the Mexican daily Vanguardia in calling on authorities to launch an efficient and thorough investigation into the murder of photographer Daniel Martínez Balzaldúa.
Martínez's body was found with that of a friend, Julián Zamora Garcia, early Wednesday morning on a street in Saltillo, Vanguardía reported. He had last been seen by his colleagues at the daily's offices around 3 p.m. Tuesday before he left to cover an event. He never arrived.
Martínez, 22, had worked for Vanguardia for only a month and had been assigned to the daily's society section, which is an entry-level position, according to Ricardo Mendoza, the paper's editorial director. Another editor at Vanguardia, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, told CPJ that the climate of fear in Coahuila state prevented the newspaper from doing any investigation in stories with links to organized crime. Photographers covering the society section in Mexico have been targeted by organized crime groups in the past for inadvertently capturing images of cartel members, according to CPJ research. Read more.
Mexico City, April 25, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists joins journalists with the Mexican daily Vanguardia in calling on authorities to launch an efficient and thorough investigation into the murder of photographer Daniel Martínez Balzaldúa.
Martínez's body was found with that of a friend, Julián Zamora Garcia, early Wednesday morning on a street in Saltillo, Vanguardía reported. He had last been seen by his colleagues at the daily's offices around 3 p.m. Tuesday before he left to cover an event. He never arrived.
Martínez, 22, had worked for Vanguardia for only a month and had been assigned to the daily's society section, which is an entry-level position, according to Ricardo Mendoza, the paper's editorial director. Another editor at Vanguardia, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, told CPJ that the climate of fear in Coahuila state prevented the newspaper from doing any investigation in stories with links to organized crime. Photographers covering the society section in Mexico have been targeted by organized crime groups in the past for inadvertently capturing images of cartel members, according to CPJ research. Read more.
Apr 11, 2013
Mexico reporter Regina Martinez's murderer sentenced
BBC
April 10, 2013
A judge in Mexico has sentenced a man to 38 years in prison over the 2012 murder of crime reporter Regina Martinez Perez.
Jorge Antonio Hernandez Silva was found guilty of homicide and robbery.
Regina Martinez, a correspondent for news magazine Proceso, was found beaten and strangled to death in her home in Xalapa, in eastern Veracruz state.
The prosecution says Hernandez confessed the crime, but colleagues of Ms Martinez say he was set up.
Ms Martinez had been working for the investigative news magazine Proceso for 10 years when her brothers reported finding her body in her home.
Read more.
April 10, 2013
A judge in Mexico has sentenced a man to 38 years in prison over the 2012 murder of crime reporter Regina Martinez Perez.
Jorge Antonio Hernandez Silva was found guilty of homicide and robbery.
Regina Martinez, a correspondent for news magazine Proceso, was found beaten and strangled to death in her home in Xalapa, in eastern Veracruz state.
The prosecution says Hernandez confessed the crime, but colleagues of Ms Martinez say he was set up.
Ms Martinez had been working for the investigative news magazine Proceso for 10 years when her brothers reported finding her body in her home.
Read more.
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