Freedom of Expression
Press Release R92/10
PRESS RELEASE
R92/10
THE OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR
CONDEMNS MURDER OF JOURNALIST IN
According to the information received, Ledesma had received a call early Saturday morning to help a neighbor repair an electrical problem, but was murdered upon leaving his house. Relatives of the journalist were threatened by unknown persons when they tried to assist him, as well as during the funeral, when they were given a warning as they left the site.
Ledesma was a correspondent for the newspaper Mundo Villa, and was preparing to open the Mundo TV Villa television channel, which would broadcast its signal via cable to homes in the community. The journalist also had a long history as a community leader.
In statements given to an Argentinean newspaper last June, Ledesma announced the launch of the television channel and stated that he intended to do investigative journalism to "film the famous people" who come to the slum area to buy drugs.
According to the information received, Ledesma’s community work was closely related to his work as a journalist. It is essential that the State provide adequate protection to the journalist’s family and do everything possible to establish the facts of the murder and ensure that the crime is not met with impunity.
The Office of the Special Rapporteur recalls that, as established in the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), "the murder, kidnapping, intimidation of and/or threats to social communicators, as well as the material destruction of communications media violate the fundamental rights of individuals and strongly restrict freedom of expression. It is the duty of the State to prevent and investigate such occurrences, to punish their perpetrators and to ensure that victims receive due compensation."