INFORMATION ON THE JOURNALISTS

PLACE AND DATE

FACTS OF THE CASE

BACKGROUND

STATUS OF THE INVESTIGATION

José Carlos Araujo, Timbaúba Radio

Timbaúba, Pernambuco state, Brazil.

24 April 2004

Two armed subjects shot José Carlos Araujo outside his residence.

In accordance with the information received, Araujo had made charges related to local crime.

On 27 April 2004 Helton Jonas Goncalvez de Oliveira was arrested and confessed to the murder. Goncalvez stated that the homicide was due to the fact that, in his program José Carlos Entrevista, Araujo had accused him of being the principal perpetrator of several crimes, which he denied. The Commissariat of Timbaúba also established that Goncalves de Oliveira had been helped by Marcelo Melo, and a third subject had facilitated a motorcycle.

Jorge Lourenço dos Santos, owner and commentator of Criativa FM

Santana do Ipanema, Alagoas state, Brazil.

11 July 2004.

Dos Santos was murdered in front of his house, having been shot four times. The assassin fled in a vehicle. The journalist was transported to a local hospital where he died soon after arriving.

In his program, dos Santos criticized politicians and local entrepreneurs. The journalist had received death threats and been attacked twice before. Dos Santos had also gotten involved in politics, having run for alderman in a nearby locality.

At the time of the writing of this report, the Rapporteur had not received information on the status of the investigation. However, he did receive information that a civil society request had been made for federal authorities to get involved in the investigation.

Ricardo Ortega, journalist of the Spanish chain Antenna 3

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

7 March 2004

According to the information received, Ortega was covering a demonstration in Port-au-Prince when armed subjects opened fire on a group of people. Some 30 people were wounded and seven were killed, among them Ricardo Ortega, who was shot.

The instability reigning in Haiti in early 2004, within the framework of demonstrations and disputes between the opposition and pro-government groups, generated an environment of violence that affected the work of social communicators and the media. During that period, serious incidents such as attacks, assaults, and threats were directed at social communicators, including several foreign correspondents.

On 22 March 2004, the police detained Yvon Antoine, and on 28 March 2004, division inspector Jean-Michel Gaspard, both for their presumed involvement in the events of 7 March.

Roberto Javier Mora García, editorial director of the daily paper El Mañana.

Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas state, Mexico.

19 March 2004.

The journalist was stabbed in front of his house. None of his belongings were taken.

The journalist had published various articles on organized crime, but had not received any threats beforehand.

Two neighbors of the journalist, identified as Mario Medina Vásquez, a citizen of the United States, and Hiram Olivero Ortíz, were detained on 26 March 2004. The Rapporteur received queries from civic organizations regarding the seriousness of the investigation.

Francisco Javier Ortiz Franco, editor/publisher of the weekly paper Zeta.

Tijuana, Baja California,

MEXICO.

22 June 2004

An unidentified subject whose face was covered shot him four times in the head and neck, in the presence of his two children, who were unharmed.

Ortíz was co-founder and an editorial writer on the subjects of the drug traffic and corruption. In 1997, Jesus Blancornelas, director of the weekly paper, was victim of an attack that killed his friend and bodyguard Luis Valero Elizalde.

On 29 June 2004, the District Attorney’s Office in Baja California appointed a Special Judge to investigate the homicide. However, on 18 August, federal authorities took over the case because of the possible relationship between the murder and organized crime.

Francisco Arratia Saldierna, columnist of El Imparcial and El Regional and, in Matamoros,  of Mercurio and Cinco, as well as the web page, En Línea Directa.

City of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

31 August 2004.

Arratia died of a cardiac arrest after being brutally beaten. The columnist had been tortured before he was thrown out of a vehicle.

Arratia wrote on corruption and organized crime.

On 24 September, the police of Tamaulipas arrested Raúl Castelán Cruz in the city of Matamoros. He confessed to having participated in Arratia’s murder and that the crime had been motivated by Arratia’s articles. On 30 September, federal authorities took over the investigation because of the possible link between the murder and organized crime.

Carlos José Guadamuz Portillo, director of Channel 23’s program “Dardos al Centro.”

Managua, Nicaragua.

10 February 2004.

The journalist was shot several times when he arrived at the channel.

The Rapporteur received information that the journalist had already received death threats.

William Hurtado García, who confessed to the crime, was identified as the responsible party. On 19 April 2004, Hurtado García was sentenced to 21 years prison for the crimes of murder and attempted homicide against Guadamuz and his son, who was with the journalist.

María José Bravo, correspondent of the daily papers La Prensa and Hoy

Juigalpa, Chontales Department, Nicaragua.

9 November 2004

The journalist was shot at close range when covering the demonstrations of political groups against the results of the 7 November elections in the municipality.

The Rapporteur did not receive information on threats or incidents prior to the murder.

The police detained Eugenio Hernández González, former mayor of the municipio of El Ayote, as the main suspect of the murder and two other suspects. At the time this report was being written, the motive of the murder had not been determined.

Antonio de la Torre Echandía, director of the news show El Equipo de la Noticia, broadcast by Radio Orbita.

Yungay, Ancash, PERU.

14 February 2004.

De la Torre was stabbed by two subjects as he was leaving a party.

De la Torre had received telephone threats and previously been the target of attacks. The journalist had disseminated criticisms about Amaro León, mayor of Yungay.

According to the investigation, Moisés David Julca had been identified as the presumed perpetrator of the murder. The mayor of the locality, Amaro León, was also detained as the presumed intellectual author. At the time of the writing of this report, Julca was in flight, as was the mayor’s daughter, Enma León Martínez, also under investigation.

Alberto Rivera Fernández, director of the program Transparencia, broadcast by Radio Oriental.

Pucallpa, Ucayali, PERU.

21 April 2004.

Rivera was murdered when two men entered his glass store and one of them shot him several times in the chest. There was no evidence of theft in the place.

Rivera was a controversial radio commentator who criticized local authorities. In January 2004, he had participated in a demonstration against the authorities of the province of Colonel Portillo. The demonstrators had caused damages to the municipality building and the municipio sued some of them, including Rivera. The commentator had accused the municipality of corruption.

In late May, the police had declared that the crime had been a crime of passion but this hypothesis was subsequently discarded. On 1 June, the police arrested Roy Gavino Cullqui Saurino and three days later Martín Ignacio Flores Vásquez. The first was a journalist and public relations officer for the municipality, the second an employee of the municipal potable water and sewerage company.

Juan Emilio Andujar, correspondent of Listín Diario and director of the weekly radio program Encuentro Mil 60

Azua, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.

14 September 2004.

Andujar was murdered by armed subjects riding motorcycles, who shot him in front of the offices of Radio Azua. At the time he was with his colleague, Juan Sánchez, who survived the attack.

In September and October, in Azua, southern Dominican Republic, several communicators had been the targets of violent incidents and others reported that they had received threats. Andujar had reported on the crime wave of threats against six journalists.

One of the presumed attackers died in a shoot out with the police, while another was still in flight at the time this report was written.