Rights Body: 89 Percent of Attacks on Mexican Journalists Go Unpunished Latin American Herald Tribune
go to original April 22, 2014

Last month, Article 19 organized a silent march in Mexico City to protest violence against journalists in the country. (Jen Robinson/Twitter)

MEXICO CITY – Some 89 percent of the attacks on journalists in Mexico go unpunished because authorities do not investigate the cases, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) said.

Only about 19 percent of cases involving the killings and disappearances of journalists, as well as attacks on media outlets, end up in the hands of a judge, the CNDH said in a statement.

Suspects go to trial in just 11 percent of cases and barely 10 percent of judicial proceedings end with a conviction, “producing an impunity rate of 89 percent,” said the CNDH, Mexico’s equivalent of an ombudsman’s office.

Prosecutors are failing to investigate and gather evidence to clear up crimes against members of the media, “such as murders, disappearances, attacks, injuries, threats and intimidation, among others,” the CNDH said, adding that it made a recommendation in this area in August 2013.

Between Jan. 1, 2010, and Feb. 28, 2014, 347 complaints were received about violations of the human rights of members of the media, the CNDH said.

Read the rest at Latin American Herald Tribune

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