New York, October 14, 2008–Mexican editor and publisher Miguel Angel Villagómez Valle was executed hours after being kidnapped on Thursday in the state of Michoacán. His body was found on Friday in neighboring Guerrero state. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating possible links between Villagómez’s death and his work as a journalist.
We issued the following statement in response to the murder of Mexican reporter Miguel Angel Villagómez, editor of the newspaper La Noticia in the state of Michoacán, whose bullet-ridden body was found today in the neighboring state of Guerrero, according to press reports. “We mourn the death of our colleague Miguel Angel Villagómez and urge…
The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on President Felipe Calderón and Congressional leaders to implement the following:Wherever current law allows, assign to the federal attorney general investigative control of the cases of seven journalists who have disappeared since 2005. Reactivate those cases that are dormant. Ensure the attorney general’s office does everything in its power…
7 journalists have been slain in direct relation to their work since 2000. 14 other journalists have been murdered in unclear circumstances since 2000.16th worldwide in number of journalists murdered.14 percent of journalist murders have ended in convictions.10th worldwide in CPJ’s Impunity Index, which calculates the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of the population. The higher a nation’s ranking, the greater the…
New York, September 25, 2008–Mexican radio host Alejandro Zenón Fonseca Estrada was gunned down Tuesday as he was putting up anticrime posters in Villahermosa, capital of the Gulf Coast state of Tabasco. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating possible links between Fonseca’s work as a journalist and his killing. Four unidentified men riding in…
In Mexico, where violence against the press has become an epidemic, a debate is raging about what should be done to confront this terrible problem. Since 2000, 21 journalists have been killed, seven of them in direct reprisal for their work. The record of violence has produced widespread self-censorship, particularly among regional journalists covering drug…
Emilio Gutiérrez Soto began fearing for his life when approximately 50 armed soldiers entered his home in Ascensión on May 5 without a permit. They told Gutiérrez they were searching for “weapons or drugs,” he told CPJ. The soldiers did not find any evidence of illegal activity and left. Gutiérrez said he believed the search…
While organized criminals and drug traffickers account for the bulk of attacks against Mexican journalists, CPJ has documented an increasing number of assaults committed by security forces. Just last week, this reality was brought into sharp focus with the accusation by a reporter that he had been roughed up by the military.