62nd
General Assembly
Mexico City, Mexico
September 29 to October 3, 2006
Camino Real Hotel
Reports and Resolutions
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IMPUNITY-MEXICO
III
Resolution of the Midyear Meeting
Quito, Ecuador
WHEREAS
Benjamín Flores González, editor of La Prensa in San Luis Río
Colorado, Sonora, was murdered in July 1997 as a result of his reporting on
drug traffickers and corrupt officials; four people were arrested in the case
and convicted, but two of them, including the alleged perpetrator, subsequently
had their convictions overturned due to insufficient evidence, leaving only
two accessories, Vidal Zamora Lara and Jorge Pacheco Reyes, in prison; four
arrest warrants have been outstanding for eight years, and the Sonoran authorities
have announced no new efforts to find the masterminds
WHEREAS
both of the individuals convicted in the 1998 murder of Philip True, a correspondent
for the San Antonio Express-News in Mexico, remain at large, despite the fact
that they were convicted of homicide and given 20-year prison sentences in 2004,
but have not been reapprehended
WHEREAS
José Ramírez Puente, a journalist for Radio Net in Ciudad Juárez,
Chihuahua, was murdered in April 2000, and after nearly six years the Mexican
Office of the Attorney General, which has since taken over the investigation,
has not announced any new developments, much less arrested the culprits; the
motive for the crime is therefore unknown, though the prevailing theory among
local journalists is that it was related to his work as a journalist
WHEREAS
José Luis Ortega Mata, editor of Semanario de Ojinaga in Chihuahua, was
shot twice in the head and murdered in February 2001; he had reported on the
activity of drug traffickers in the region and their ties to government officials,
politicians, and businessmen; and he was on the verge of reporting on how drug
traffickers help finance local election campaigns
WHEREAS
several weeks after the murder, in April 2001, U.S. businessman Jesús
Manuel Herrera Olivas was arrested after having been identified by two witnesses
as having carried out the murder, but was released in June 2001 due to inconsistencies
in the witnesses’ stories
WHEREAS
the murder has since gone unpunished, no arrests have been made, and the investigation
by the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Chihuahua is at a standstill
WHEREAS
columnist Leodegario Aguilera Lucas was kidnapped in May 2004 in Acapulco, Guerrero,
and there are conflicting reports as to whether his body has been found or he
continues missing; meanwhile, the Attorney General’s Office of the state
of Guerrero has kept the case at a standstill, and has shown no progress in
the investigation to determine why Aguilera Lucas was kidnapped and possibly
killed
WHEREAS
Francisco Ortiz Franco, editor of the weekly newsmagazine Zeta in Baja California,
was murdered in June 2004, and although the federal Office of the Attorney General
took over the investigation, two years after the murder no one has been arrested
in the case
WHEREAS
Gregorio Rodríguez Hernández, a photographer for the Mazatlán
newspaper El Debate, was murdered in November 2004 in Escuinapa, Sinaloa; seven
people are behind bars in connection with the case, two of whom may be let go
by the judge within days because they may have been scapegoated; and the trials
of the other defendants, including the former local police chief as one of the
possible masterminds, are still ongoing
WHEREAS
another of the alleged masterminds of the reporter’s murder, whom authorities
have linked to drug traffickers, has not yet been tried; the Attorney General’s
Office believes Rodríguez Hernández may have been murdered because
he unknowingly photographed the alleged masterminds; and no such photos were
never published in El Debate, nor did they appear among his personal effects
WHEREAS
Alfredo Jiménez Mota, a reporter for the Sonora newspaper El Imparcial
who had focused on organized crime, disappeared on April 2, 2005; nearly one
year later the Mexican Office of the Attorney General has not found him or those
responsible for his disappearance, and the case appears to be at a standstill
WHEREAS
Raúl Gibb Guerrero, editor of the newspaper La Opinión in Poza
Rica, Veracruz, was murdered as he was heading home in April 2005; since then
the Mexican Office of the Attorney General has announced no new developments
in the case, although it has searched the homes of various family members and
issued summons to the primary suspects: Brian Gibb, the journalist’s nephew,
who is considered a possible perpetrator; and Martín Rojas López,
known as the “czar of the Chupaductos [a gas theft ring],” who was
arrested in the United States and is in the process of being extradited to Mexico
in unrelated cases
WHEREAS
Jaime Arturo Olvera Bravo, a former photographer for the newspaper La Voz de
Michoacán was murdered on March 9, 2006 in La Piedad, Michoacán,
as he was heading to a school bus stop to drop off his 5-year-old son; a man
over 30 years of age lay in wait for one hour for him; upon seeing him he approached
and shot him once in the neck, killing him instantly; and the Attorney General’s
Office of the state of Michoacán is investigating whether he was murdered
for personal reasons or for his work as a journalist
WHEREAS
Article 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 MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE
IAPA RESOLVES
to insist that the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Sonora review
the case file for the murder of Benjamín Flores González, editor
of La Prensa in San Luis Río Colorado, in the wake of the acquittals
of those who were allegedly the primarily culprits in the murder; find the true
culprits and serve the four arrest warrants that have been outstanding for over
eight years; and request that the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes
Against Journalists in the Mexican Office of the Attorney General review the
case file and take over jurisdiction of the case
to vigorously insist before
the Mexican government that the authorities serve the arrest warrants pending
against both of those responsible for the murder of Philip True
to demand that the Special
Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Against Journalists in the Mexican Office
of the Attorney General reopen the case of the murder of journalist José
Ramírez Puente, which has remained unsolved for six years, and that it
prosecute all of those involved in the murder
to remind the Attorney General’s
Office of the state of Chihuahua that it has yet to solve the 2001 murder of
journalist José Luis Ortega Mata and that it is therefore imperative
that the culprits be arrested and prosecuted, and to urge the Special Prosecutor’s
Office for Crimes Against Journalists to take over the case
to insist that the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Guerrero
conclude its investigation into the disappearance of journalist Leodegario Aguilera
Lucas, find him or his body, determine why he was kidnapped or possibly killed,
and capture and prosecute the culprits
to call on the Mexican Office
of the Attorney General to arrest and prosecute all of those involved in the
murder of journalist Francisco Ortiz Franco
to urge the Attorney General’s
Office of the state of Sinaloa to step up its investigation into the murder
of news photographer Gregorio Rodríguez Hernández in order to
arrest all of those involved and determine why he was murdered, and to demand
that the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Against Journalists in
the Mexican Office of the Attorney General take over the case
to urge the Mexican Office
of the Attorney General to step up its investigation into the disappearance
of Alfredo Jiménez Mota and announce clear, specific developments in
the case, as this is a serious case in which the reporter’s whereabouts
and condition are unknown
to urge the Mexican Office
of the Attorney General to arrest and prosecute those involved in the murder
of Raúl Gibb Guerrero, editor of La Opinión in Poza Rica, and
issue a clear statement on why he was murdered
to urge the Special Prosecutor’s
Office for Crimes Against Journalists in the Mexican Office of the Attorney
General to review the case file for the murder of journalist Benjamín
Fernández González and determine whether it can take over the
case and arrest those responsible
to demand that the Attorney
General’s Office of the state of Michoacán solve the murder of
photographer and copy editor Jaime Arturo Olvera Bravo, prosecute the culprits,
and issue a public statement on why he was murdered
to urge the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Against Journalists
in the Mexican Office of the Attorney General to review the case of the murder
of Jaime Olvera Bravo, determine whether the case may be transferred to federal
jurisdiction and, if so, solve the crime.
 questions
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