PRESS RELEASE
R41/12
OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR CONDEMNS MURDER
OF JOURNALIST IN
According to the information received, Regina Martinez was a correspondent for the magazine Proceso in
The Office of the Special Rapporteur reiterates its concern for the persistent acts of violence against social communicators in Mexico and urgently calls on the authorities to strengthen the Office of the Special Prosecutor on Crimes Committed against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE, in its Spanish acronym) and to implement both the Law for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists and the constitutional reform that would give federal authorities the power to investigate and prosecute crimes affecting freedom of expression.
The Office of the Special Rapporteur insists that in order to ensure that this crime does not result in impunity and that similar crimes are not committed, it is of utmost importance that all parties who are responsible for the murders are identified, tried and punished, and that the perpetrators provide just reparations to the victims' families.
Principle 9 of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression states: "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."
The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression was created by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to encourage the defense of the right to freedom of thought and expression in the hemisphere, given the fundamental role this right plays in consolidating and developing the democratic system.