Mexico closed the first half of 2022 as the deadliest against the press since records were kept. Until the end of June, 12 journalists had already been murdered, to date there are 18, the vast majority would be linked to journalistic work, according to a report published this Thursday by the organization Article 19.
The non-governmental organization that works independently in Mexico and Central America “for the defense and surveillance of freedom of expression and the free exercise of journalism,” documented 331 attacks against the press in the Aztec country in the first half of the year, ranging from threats, harassment, harassment and in the most serious cases, murder.
“The lethal violence against the press is worrying, because of the 9 murders where Article 19 identifies a possible link with the work of the victims, there is also in all possible participation of organized crime at the level of material authorship. We insist that as long as there are no exhaustive, impartial and professional investigations, it will be impossible to identify and prosecute the intellectual authors of the murders”, pray the report of 25 pages.
In the investigation, the regions of Mexico where journalists are most at risk have been zoned, as well as the type of sources they cover for the media; The type of threat and the means used to commit them have also been stratified from the observatory.
“Five of the murdered journalists (until June 30) covered the source of security and justice, and four that of corruption and politics,” the observatory lists.
José Luis Gamboa Arenas (Veracruz) and Margarito Martínez (Tijuana), who were killed at the beginning of the year, were covering red note and development of security policies. Lourdes Maldonado (Tijuana) and Roberto Toledo (Michoacán) covered issues related to corruption in local and state administrations, to name a few.
Article 19maintains that the most serious is the sustained impunity in the country, coupled with a “stigmatizing rhetoric against journalists and the media,” according to the compilation of documents from the period under observation.
“They seek to turn the messenger into the message, distorting the investigations or original reports of the press. From the head of the Federal Executive Power, a “cascade effect” continues to be identified where, regardless of the level of government, or the party, the authorities define their responsibility and even justify violence against the press by classifying it as conservative, sold, or adversary, among others,” says the organization.
Calls from the IACHR to extend protection
Given the escalation of violence against the press in Mexico and a significant increase in other parts of the continent, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has urged states to create or strengthen mechanisms to protect journalists.
“For the Office of the Rapporteur, the fact that violence extends –increasingly frequently– to the families of journalists reveals the severe degradation of the minimum guarantees for the exercise of journalism, and calls into question the validity of the Rule of Law for those who exercise the trade in Mexico”, said the hemispheric organization based in Washington DC.
Therefore, the IACHR has urged the Mexican State to put the situation in perspective for the “development of prevention measures”, among which the relatives of journalists at risk can also enjoy special protection “to his life, integrity and freedom of expression.”
questions
So much Article 19 Like other regional organizations, including the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), they have stood up to the Mexican government, which still does not recognize the violence against the press and in some cases even shows contempt for journalists and the media for their coverage.
For this reason, so far in the mandate of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who began his term on December 1, 2018, the organizations have kept a separate account to compare it with other presidential periods.
“With the figures registered during the first semester of 2022, there is a total of 2,304 attacks against the press perpetrated during the mandate of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Within these attacks, 39 murders, 26 forced displacements and 2 disappearances have been committed,” he maintains. Article 19.
In the few references to the issue of violence against journalists made by the Mexican president at press conferences, he has not paid much in terms of his administration’s plans to strengthen protection programs for communicators, or to reinforce the investigation since the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR).
López Obrador has minimized the matter since, according to his argument, in many cases the harassment “does not happen any more.” “There is no lack of controversy, some threats, it does not go any further. In the case of the murdered journalists, efforts are being made to clarify the motives, arrest the guilty and also seek to avoid environments of violence,” said the leader.
According to the political consulting company TResearch Internacional, so far during López Obrador’s mandate that ends in December 2024, 39 journalists have been murdered; while during the six years of Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration 47 were counted, in Felipe Calderón’s period there were 48, and during Vicente Fox’s administration 22 journalists were assassinated.
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and turn on notifications, or follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Add Comment