Mexican reporter shot dead in Oaxaca state
Mexico City, August 13, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder on Monday of Mexican reporter Octavio Rojas Hernández in the state of Oaxaca and calls on authorities to investigate the killing, identify the motive, and bring those responsible to justice.
Mexican columnist, abducted, found dead
Mexico City, June 5, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of Mexican columnist and government spokesman Jorge Torres Palacios and calls on authorities to fully investigate the crime and bring those responsible to justice. Torres’ body was found in a bag in an orchard in Guerrero state on Monday, three days after he…
Halftime for the Brazilian press
2. The vicious cycle of impunity By Sara Rafsky When the World Cup kicks off in Brazil in June, the government of President Dilma Rousseff will be celebrating the country’s emergence as a global powerhouse. The event, to be staged at sites across the country, will put the nation’s vast and diverse territory on display,…
Unprecedented response to Mexican journalist’s murder
The disappearance and murder in Veracruz from February 5 through 11 of local journalist Gregorio Jiménez de la Cruz remains mired in controversy. In mid February, after Jiménez’s murder, a group of journalists traveled to Veracruz and investigated the authorities’ response to the journalist’s killing. On March 19, the group, called Misión de Observación, published…
News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, February 2014
CPJ releases annual publication Attacks on the Press CPJ launched the 2014 edition of its flagship publication, Attacks on the Press, on February 12, which was widely covered by local and international media outlets, including The Guardian, Reuters, and the Turkish paper Today’s Zaman. The annual assessment of global press freedom found that digital surveillance,…
Attacks on the Press in 2013: Mexico
The climate of press freedom in Mexico, despite a new president, remained perilous. Although President Enrique Peña Nieto gave final approval to a measure adopted at the end of Felipe Calderón’s term that gives federal authorities broader jurisdiction to investigate crimes against freedom of expression, the special prosecutor’s office designated to handle such investigations dragged…
Journalists in exile 2013
Somalis, Syrians flee violence; Iran crackdown deepens Fifty-five journalists fled their homes in the past year with help from the Committee to Protect Journalists. The most common reason to go into exile was the threat of violence, such as in Somalia and Syria, two of the most deadly countries in the world for the profession.…
Mexican press fails to question Martínez murder case
He certainly looked guilty of something, and as if he’d finally been caught. With either his head down or with a kind of scared, dead-eyed stare, in a white jumpsuit, in front of the four Veracruz state police officers crowded behind him. They were all in black uniforms, with a strip of face and eyes…
Attacks on the Press in 2012: Mexico
As the military battled drug cartels–and the gangs clashed with one another–the press came under fire from criminals and corrupt officials seeking to control the flow of information. Journalists disappeared or were threatened or forced to flee in reprisal for their work, and several media outlets were attacked. Freelance journalist Adrían Silva Moreno was shot…
CPJ Impact
News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, November 2012 Journalists honored at IPFA Thanks to David Boies, chairman of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, who chaired CPJ’s 2012 International Press Freedom Awards dinner on November 20, the organization raised a record-breaking $1.57 million to support persecuted journalists. The nearly 900 distinguished guests at the event…