Attacks on Mexico Journalists Surge During Pena Nieto's Presidency: Rights Group Agence France-Presse
go to original March 24, 2015

Attacks and threats against journalists in Mexico are up 80% since President Enrique Peña Nieto took office at the end of 2012, according to the human rights organization Article 19. A journalist is attacked in Mexico every 26 hours. In the past two years 660 such attacks have been reported, in which 10 journalists were murdered and four disappeared. (teleSUR English)

Attacks on journalists in Mexico have surged during President Enrique Pena Nieto's first two years in power, with assaults reported every 26.7 hours, a press freedom group said Tuesday.

Media workers endured an act of violence every 48.1 hours during the 2006-2012 presidency of Felipe Calderon, according to a report by Article 19.

Since Pena Nieto took office in December 2012, 10 journalists have been murdered, possibly due to their work, while four others have vanished, and the crimes remain unsolved, the London-based organization said.

"Fear, impunity and violence are things that are too common for the press in Mexico," Article 19 said.

CCTV America's Laura Carlsen: The Dangers of Being a Journalist in Mexico (CCTV America)

Of the 326 attacks against journalists in 2014, 43 percent involved a physical or material aggression, 16 percent were acts of intimidation, 14 percent were arbitrary detentions and 13 percent were threats.

While organized crime is behind much of the violence, 48 percent of the attacks were orchestrated by public officials, Article 19 said.

The organization said the governmental National Human Rights Commission and a special unit in the attorney general's office to prosecute crimes against journalists have been inefficient.

Mexico has become one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists, with at least 82 media workers killed between 2000 and September 2014, according to Reporters Without Borders.

See the original at Dunya News

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!