The IAPA sees “obvious lack of political will” in Mexico in the face of murders of journalists

Given the accumulated 18 journalists killed so far in 2022, the deadliest year against the press in Mexico -Based on the counts that have been carried out since 1987- the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) has condemned the actions and demands that the Mexican State act to stop the wave of extreme violence against the press.

In a statement released this Wednesday, the IAPA said that it believes that Mexico without a doubt “is the most dangerous country in the world to practice journalism,” after another deadly attack was perpetrated against journalist Fredid Román on Monday.

The president of the IAPA’s Freedom of Information Commission, Carlos Jornet, said that the chain of events and the lack of action by the state to stop the wave of violence shows an “obvious lack of political will” to face the situation.

The IAPA director clarified that “we see with horror how with astonishing frequency they continue to assassinate journalists in the country, without forceful actions being taken to counteract this scourge.”

Román’s murder occurred hours after the news reporter The reality of Guerrero Post a column on social media titled: “State crime without blaming the boss”about the murder of the 43 students in Ayotzinapa, whose bodies disappeared in 2014.

The Guerrero State Prosecutor’s Office has said that they are following several lines of investigation into the murder of Román, who was robbed by gunmen inside his vehicle in the city of Chilpancingo.

Prosecutors have said that they are investigating the possible relationship between the journalist’s crime and the murder of his son, “Vladimir N”, who was executed along with another person on July 1 in the town of Ocotito, in the same state. Roman had demanded in recent days to clarify the murder of his son and do justice.

The president of SIP, Jorge Canahuati, asked the Guerrero Prosecutor’s Office not to rule out his journalistic activity as one of the motives for the crime, given the escalation of events and the most recent murdered communicator.

Impunity prevails in robberies

A report from the Organization Article 19 presented last week has detailed in the last six months the type of attacks against the press and the established patterns, which range from threats, harassment, and in the worst cases the perpetration of murder.

Also, the non-governmental organization that works in Mexico and Central America for press freedom has stated that the situation is serious given the prevailing impunity.

In the first six months of the year Article 19 counted 331 attacks against the press in the Aztec country, at the same time that it has traced the areas of the country at greatest risk and the actors that violate the attacks on the press.

“The lethal violence against the press is worrying (…) Article 19 identifies 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.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said that “safer environments for journalists” must be created, but his administration has not detailed any plans to protect the press.

Groups of communicators and international organizations see in his administration a policy of “confrontation and stigmatization” against journalists for critical coverage of issues such as citizen insecurity and corruption, among others.

The Mexican president has also minimized the threats recorded and has said that “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 culprits and also seek to avoid environments of violence,” said the Mexican president.

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