Freedom of Expression

Press Release R48-10

PRESS RELEASE

R48/10

 

OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FOR FREEEDOM OF EXPRESSION CONDEMNS ATTACK IN OAXACA, MEXICO AND THE MURDER OF TWO SOCIAL ACTIVISTS, AND EXPRESSES SATISFACTION AT JOURNALISTS’ RESCUE

 

 

Washington, D.C., April 30, 2010 – The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) deplores the attack on a humanitarian convoy that occurred on April 27th, 2010 while the convoy made its way to the community of San Juan Copala in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.  Two persons were killed in the attack, several others were injured, and two journalists from the newsmagazine Contralínea remained trapped in the area controlled by the armed group responsible for the attack. After an operation by the security forces, the journalists were rescued.

 

According to the information received, the convoy en route to San Juan Copala was made up of approximately 25 persons, among them human rights defenders and journalists, who sought to support the community and document the human rights situation.  According to the information received, around 2:30 p.m. on April 27th, near La Sabana, the vehicles that made up the convoy were attacked with firearms by persons on the side of the road who presumably sought to prevent the convoy from reaching its destination. Activists Beatriz Alberta Cariño Trujillo and Jyry Jaakkola died in the attack, while several others were injured.  

 

The information received by the Office of the Special Rapporteur indicates that Contralínea journalists Érika Ramírez and David Cilia remained in the area where the attack occurred for more than two days, unable to escape due to the presence of the armed group responsible for the attack. According to Contralínea, the two journalists we going to San Juan Copala with the intention of documenting the April 7th, 2008 murder of radio presenters Felícitas Martínez and Teresa Bautista of the community radio station La Voz que Rompe el Silencio, an incident condemned by the Office of the Special Rapporteur at the time it occurred. 

 

According to the information received, on April 28th, 2010, the authorities conducted an operation to recover the bodies of the two victims who were killed. On the evening of the following day, a second operation was carried out in which the Contralínea reporters who had remained in the area were rescued and taken to the city of Santiago Juxtlahuaca. For its part, the State Prosecutor General’s office has opened an investigation into the incident.

 

The Office of the Special Rapporteur condemns the attack and the murders that have been reported, and expresses its satisfaction regarding the rescue of the journalists who had remained trapped in the area where the attack occurred. The Rapporteurship urges the authorities to investigate the events of April 27th promptly and effectively, and to protect the communities in the area whose rights, among them the right to freedom of expression, are threatened by the armed groups that participated in the attack. 

 

The Office of the Special Rapporteur recalls that Principle 9 of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression of the IACHR states that "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."