| Mexico |
His Excellency Felipe Calderón President of Mexico Mexico City, Mexico 9 November 2009 Your Excellency, We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries, to express our grave concern at the continuing impunity enjoyed by those who murder and commit violence against journalists, as well as the government's decision to disband a special committee looking into crimes against journalists. According to reports, José Bladimir Antuna García, a crime reporter for the newspaper El Tiempo de Durango, was abducted on the morning of 2 November and his body dumped later that day in the state capital of Durango. There were signs that he had been strangled and shot twice. A note left on his body said: "This happened to me for giving information to the military and writing what I shouldn't have. Check the texts of your articles well before publishing them. Yours faithfully, Bladimir." Mr García, who had recently reported receiving threats, had been investigating a story on police corruption and the case of a murdered colleague. Mr García is the second journalist from El Tiempo de Durango to have been killed this year and the third in Durango. In May, Eliseo Barron of Milenio newspaper was kidnapped and murdered, and Carlos Ortega of El Tiempo de Durango was shot dead. We are also concerned that in October the newly-seated Chamber of Deputies disbanded a special committee set up to deal with crimes against journalists. Given that violence against journalists is endemic in Mexico, we are disappointed that the new legislature does not seem to share its predecessor's commitment to end the culture of intimidation. Disbanding the committee gives a clear signal that ending violence against journalists is not a government priority. According to reports, nine journalists have been killed in Mexico this year, and in only one case has a suspect been identified. Eight further journalists remain missing and hundreds more have suffered threats and violence. We respectfully call on you to do everything possible to ensure that those who murdered Mr García and other journalists are swiftly brought to justice. We ask that you do everything possible to end violence against journalists in Mexico and to halt the culture of impunity enjoyed by those responsible. We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience. Yours sincerely, Gavin O'Reilly President World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers Xavier Vidal-Folch President World Editors Forum WAN-IFRA is the global organization for the world's newspapers and news publishers, with formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. The organisation groups 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. cc: Francisco Javier Ramirez Acuña, President of the Chamber of Deputies |
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