61ª Asamblea General The Westin Hotel Indianápolis, Indiana 7 al 11 de octubre de 2005

Mexico

WHEREAS

this year has been marked by growing threats, intimidation, pressure and harassment of journalists, most notably directed against those working in the northern border states of Mexico: Tamaulipas, Sinaloa, Sonora and Baja California

the state of affairs is particularly serious in Tamaulipas, the state with the most attacks on journalists, and this has hampered news-gathering activities there

assailants range from gunmen for organized crime to municipal, state and federal officials, who have employed verbal threats, firearms, detention for up to several hours, or even burned their vehicles

only a small number of the attacks in Mexico are solved or prosecuted by the authorities, and not a single case in the state of Tamaulipas has been solved

Mexican authorities have expressed concern and support for legal reforms to facilitate the prosecution of those responsible for attacks on journalists, and the Mexican government has reported that it has taken into account IAPA requests for investigations into killings of journalists
 

the Office of the Attorney General ordered that prosecutors be named to pursue these cases in each state, although this order has not been fully complied with, and vague statements by the Mexican government have raised concerns as to whether a special prosecutor will be named to coordinate all these investigations

Principle 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states: “Freedom of expression and of the press are severely limited by murder, terrorism, kidnapping, pressure, intimidation, the unjust imprisonment of journalists, the destruction of facilities, violence of any kind and impunity for perpetrators.  Such acts must be investigated promptly and punished harshly”

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAPA RESOLVES

to reiterate the demand that all three branches of the Mexican government and state authorities fulfill their duty to ensure enfettered journalistic activities, carry out in-depth investigations and provide concrete results regarding the threats, intimidation, harassment, attempts on and killings of reporters; otherwise, this protracted impunity will merely serve to encourage further attacks on freedom of speech and the public's right to be informed

to emphatically demand that security measures be redoubled in the state of Tamaulipas to protect journalists from drug trafficker's threats that have made it the most dangerous state in Mexico, and prevented reporters and the media from reporting the news

to insist that the administration and legislature reach whatever agreements are necessary to amend the constitution, penal and federal procedural codes, and any other statutes that prevent the Office of the Attorney General from investigating work-related attacks against journalists

to reiterate its request that the Mexican government name a special prosecutor to investigate work-related attacks against journalists in order to prosecute unpunished attacks against the media in Mexico.