Photo (@Oaxaca 3.0)
On 3 May, Global day for Freedom of the Press, journalists from different media protested in downtown Oaxaca City to demand legal guarantees and security to allow them to exercise their profession.
According to data from the Mexico City Commission on Human Rights (CDHDF), Oaxaca occupies the second place after Mexico City in the number of death-threats and attacks on journalists this year, reaching a total of 50.
Article 19, an international organization that promotes the protection of journalists throughout the world as well as freedom of expression, has indicated that during the first third of 2014, 66 attacks were registered on journalists in Mexico, with Oaxaca being among the most violent and dangerous states of the country in which to exercise journalism.
“In Oaxaca have occurred lamentable attacks this past year, such as the murder of Alberto López Bello [writer for El Imparcial] and the attack with Molotov cocktails against the offices of the Piñero de la Cuenca in Tuxtepec. The most alarming thing is that 90 percent of the attacks on journalists continue to enjoy impunity […]. This impunity in attacks on journalists is based on the fact that the authorities are the judges and perpetrators. Two out of every three attacks are committed by public authorities or officials. And it is these same governmental institutions which investigate the cases, such that there is a palpable conflict of interests, and for this reason there is no punishment for those responsible,” noted Francisco Sandoval, an adjunct official for Freedom of Expression for Article 19.
For more information (in Spanish):
Oaxaca, quinto estado más peligroso para periodistas (Noticias, 03 de mayo de 2014)
“congeladas” 20 denuncias por agresiones contra periodistas en Oaxaca(Nss Oaxaca, 03 de mayo de 2014)
Exigen periodistas fin a mordaza y seguridad (Noticias, 04 de mayo de 2014)
Oaxaca, segundo lugar en agresiones a periodistas (Oaxaca 3.0, 6 de mayo de 2014)
For more information from SIPAZ (in English):
National: A delicate moment for the Mechanism for the Protection of Rights Defenders and Journalists (30 March 2014)
National: Article 19 receives death-threats (23 April 2013)
Mexico: 172 aggressions against journalists in 2011 – Article 19 (2 April 2012)
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