Mexico City • The National Commission of Human Rights stated that impunity prevails in the investigation of murders, disappearances and attacks against journalists since 91 percent of them have not resulted in convictions.
On the Day of Freedom of Expression, the commission announced that from the year 2000 to date, the CNDH has documented 84 journalist murders; and from 2005 to April 30 of this year, there have been 20 disappearances of journalists and media employees, as well as 39 attacks and damages against media facilities.
Of these cases, 27 have been sent to the courts; of that total, 12 have resulted in convictions, which gives a 91 percent rate of impunity, which reveals poor results in getting to the bottom of such attacks.
From 2010-2013, the authorities with the highest number of documented complaints before the CNDH are: Attorney General of the Republic, Federal Police, Secretariat of National Defense, Attorney General of the state of Veracruz and Secretariat of Government Affairs [SEGOB].
The entities that recorded the highest number of attacks upon journalists, are Mexico City, Veracruz, Chiapas, State of Mexico and Chihuahua.
The Commission called on the authorities to undertake decisive actions to ensure necessary security conditions for journalists to do their work and to conduct effective investigations to bring to justice the perpetrators of the attacks, since the prevailing impunity results in a stimulus for the assailants, whether state or non-state actors.
Faced with this situation, the CNDH, through its Grievance Program for Journalists and Human Rights Defenders,
"fosters a culture of reporting and requires federal and local authorities to act promptly and expeditiously in order to prevent attacks on reporters, workers of the media and their facilities."Spanish original