Mexico
2013
Mexican press fails to question Martínez murder case
He certainly looked guilty of something, and as if he’d finally been caught. With either his head down or with a kind of scared, dead-eyed stare, in a white jumpsuit, in front of the four Veracruz state police officers crowded behind him. They were all in black uniforms, with a strip of face and eyes…
In Mexico, a movement and a bill against impunity
Who can say exactly when the work of press freedom groups, human rights defenders, and budding networks of Mexican journalists became a movement? It would have been many murders, many funerals, many orphans ago. It would have been countless news events–about crime, corruption, violence–that went uncovered because reporters and news organizations concluded that the only…
Full investigation needed in Mexican journalist’s murder
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.
CPJ commends new Mexican legislation
New York, April 25, 2013-The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the approval today of legislation that will implement a constitutional amendment that gives federal authorities in Mexico broader jurisdiction to prosecute crimes against freedom of expression. “This is a legislative milestone and a step forward in the fight against the impunity that persists in crimes against…
Journalist missing in Veracruz for 3 months
Mexico City, April 22, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Mexican authorities to fully investigate the disappearance of journalist Sergio Landa Rosado in the state of Veracruz. Landa, who covers the crime beat for the local daily Diario Cardel, has been missing since January, according to news reports.
CPJ alarmed by threats against Article 19 in Mexico
New York, April 22, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a death threat sent to the Mexico office of the international freedom of expression organization Article 19. “Mexican authorities must launch an exhaustive investigation into this threat and bring those responsible to justice,” said CPJ Senior Americas Program Coordinator Carlos Lauría. “The authorities…
Journalist threatened after reporting on Veracruz murder
Mexico City, April 17, 2013–The national Mexican magazine Proceso reported Tuesday that it has learned of a plot by officials in the government of Veracruz to harm journalist Jorge Carrasco, who has reported extensively on the murder of the magazine’s correspondent in that state. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities to fully investigate…
At OAS, a victory for human rights and free expression
By reaffirming the autonomy and independence of the regional human rights system and rejecting attempts to neutralize the work of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and its special rapporteur for freedom of expression, the Organization of American States (OAS) chose last week to discard proposals that would have made citizens throughout the hemisphere…
CPJ urges OAS not to weaken human rights system
Dear OAS Ministers of Foreign Affairs: Ahead of the assembly of the Organization of American States on Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists urges you to oppose any attempts to debilitate the regional human rights system. The failure of member states to preserve the autonomy and independence of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and its special rapporteur on freedom of expression would make citizens throughout the hemisphere more vulnerable to human rights violations and represent a blow to democracy in the Americas.
Arrests in Torreón press crimes; will it make difference?
Twenty-one people have been arrested for a wave of crimes that included 11 murders (six of which were committed against police officers), the abduction for hours of five employees of El Siglo de Torreón newspaper, the murder of a mayoral candidate, and attempted murder of a current mayor in a large metropolitan area in central…