By Diego Cruz
More than a hundred Honduran journalists and media workers were threatened or attacked between 2010 and 2013, according to a Feb. 18 announcement by the Committee for Human Rights (CONADEH), reported El Heraldo.
During this time period, 20 journalists were victims of attacks while 50 reported being threatened and persecuted, according to the NGO. In 2013 alone, seven attempts were made to kill journalists, there were seven acts of aggression, and 12 cases of threats against communicators. The attacks included media workers from El Heraldo, La Prensa, La Tribuna, Tiempo, Radio Globo and Radio América.
Ramón Custodio, leader of CONADEH, condemns the attempts to silence the press, whose labor he calls “ethical, responsible and independent,” but whose work has turned into a “high risk profession” for journalists and their families.
“This violence against the media and journalists constitutes a true threat to freedom of thought and expression, since it is an attempt against the right to life, to work, the free expression of thought and the right to inform freely,” Custodio said.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the announcement did not mention that 37 media workers had been killed since 2003 – among them journalists, announcers and broadcasters –only one of which has been resolved in court.
Although CONADEH reported that included in the seven assassination attempts made in 2013, the daughter of a journalist and a radio-repair technician had been killed, they made no mention of Juan Carlos Argeñal, Anibal Barlow and Manuel Murillo, three journalists who were killed last year.
Last month, a report by PEN International said the levels of risk for journalists and communicators in Honduras had increased since 2009 following the coup that deposed president José Manuel Zelaya.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
