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| During the march on October 2 in Mexico City, photographer José Manuel Jiménez was attacked by police. Photo: Octavio Gómez |
Proceso: Gloria Leticia Díaz
Mexico City - With 225 assaults on media and newscasters registered from January to September, the freedom of expression defense organization Article 19 has no doubt confirming that 2013 is "one of the most violent years against the Mexican press".
In accordance with a report by the civil organization, the third quarter was also the most aggressive period against the freedom of expression ... with 67 acts of violence documented against journalists.
Including, it warns about certain patterns in Mexico City since December 1, 2012:
"the local authorities do not offer guarantees to [those] documenting social protest, and their police officers suppress fundamental rights such as freedom of expression in social movements," criminalizing the protest.The document states in detail that the violence against the press from January to September of this year surpasses the number of annual assaults committed in past years. In 2012, 207 assaults were registered; in 2011 there were 172.
Among the most violent cases: the organization counted three murders, two disappearances, four attacks on media workers, 26 threats and seven illegal deprivations of liberty. The murdered journalists are: Jaime González, of Ojinaga Noticias from Chihuahua (March 3); Daniel Martínez Bazaldúa of Vanguardia, Coahuila's newspaper (April 24), and Alberto López Bello, of El Imparcial, from Oaxaca (July 17).
For the organization, the last of these cases would be "the most serious attack on the freedom of expression", because before his murder, López Bello was a victim of an arbitrary detention by the state police on May 18th for photographing drug banners.
The missing newscasters this year are Sergio Landa of El Diario from Veracruz (January 22) and Mario Ricardo Chávez Jorge, of El Ciudadano, from Tamaulipas (June 24).
According to the organization, the state where the highest number of assaults on the press have been registered in the last nine months is Veracruz, with 31 cases; followed by Morelos with 25, and the Federal District and Coahuila, each with 18. Guerrero, Oaxaca and Baja California each report 16 and Chiapas reports 14.
Of the 67 assaults in the third quarter of this year, Article 19's report identifies 36 cases in which public servants were responsible, 19 by state police, 12 by municipal policemen and five by federal police. The organization expresses its concern because in the 67 registered cases between July and September
"there is no punishment for those acts, even when, in 46% of those cases, they are public servants linked with police forces."Regarding the other cases, in 16 the aggressor was unknown, three are attributed to organized crime; two to a trade association; one to a political group, four to a social organization, two to political party members and in three cases the assaults were by political candidates, according to Article 19's analysis.
In the third quarter of the year, Veracruz also spearheaded the list of violations against the freedom of expression with 13 reports, followed by Baja California and the Federal District, each with 10.
In its document, Article 19 reflects on the situation of social turmoil in the Federal District, which because of
"the centralization of political life in the Mexican political capital makes it a destination of social protest from different regions," which for the organization headquartered in London, is "a symptom of a democracy in growth and under construction".It says is noteworthy, however, that beginning with December 1, 2012,
"the protest gained new significance and became more violent", due to the behavior of "a small group of civilians" which had transformed the city's streets into "a battlefield, and exhibited a police corps which, on the one hand, lacks protocols for guaranteeing free expression, and on the other hand, for the prosecution of those who commit a crime during the protests."It criticizes that the capital's authorities
"have arrived at the extreme of detaining and jailing photojournalists who are carrying out their informative work and forcing them to pay [bail of] 126,476 pesos ($9,700 USD) to avoid being held in prison and presumed guilty, while having their case processed," which is the case of photojournalist Gustavo Ruiz, states the organization.According to Article 19's records, from December 1st, 2012 to September 1st of this year
"eleven people, the majority of them independent journalists, have been arrested in the Federal District for documenting police behavior. In seven they were detained in the context of a social protest."In the third quarter, 5 attacks were also registered against mass media internet pages, 2 attacks with explosives at newspaper offices, one murder, 16 physical and property assaults, 30 acts of intimidation, 10 via veto [sic], and 5 robberies. It should be added that two journalists have faced criminal charges for libel.
The freedom of expression defense organization considers it
"essential that the federal authorities adopt protocols which allow a fundamental right such as the freedom of expression to develop completely uninhibited, but above all, that these public servants responsible for these acts be punished."Spanish Original