Press freedom activists have asked the Colombian attorney general to classify the 1991 deaths of two journalists investigating a massacre as crimes against humanity, the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) reports via IFEX.
In the face of the threats and dangers journalists confront as increasing violence rocks Mexico, various initiatives have emerged as part of an effort to help protect reporters: group coverage so no one journalist can be singled out, bullet-proof vests, and even self censorship. The most recent protection measure is an accord with guidelines specifying how to cover the drug war.
Luciano Leitão Pedrosa was killed the night of April 9 in a restaurant in the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco, G1 reports. The journalist worked for Radio Metropolitana FM and hosted the program Action and Citizenship on TV Victoria, where he discussed criminal allegations and police issues.
The state of freedom of expression has deteriorated throughout the Americas, concluded delegates at the Mid-Year meeting of the Inter American Press Association, held April 6-9 in San Diego, Ca.
The newest edition of ReVista, the Harvard Review of Latin America, is dedicated to journalism in the Americas, with stories by renowned journalists focusing on such topics as the dangers of reporting in Mexico, the possibilities of incorporating new digital technologies, censorship and threats to freedom of expression.
Continuing the wave of threats by paramilitary groups against Colombian journalists, a new pamphlet targets 11 community radio stations affiliated with the Cauca Regional Indigenous Council and 11 journalists from diverse media outlets, Reporters without Borders (RSF) reports.
Venezuela’s National Journalism Guild (CNP) condemned an attack against a press team with the Primero Justicia opposition political party by 40 people carrying state oil company identification, El Nacional reports.
Journalists from violent Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and from Managua, Nicaragua, report being attacked by police while performing their journalistic duties.
For the third time since September, a division of Grupo Reforma-owned newspaper El Norte was hit with a grenade in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey, Vanguardia reports.
A Colombian journalist was hit with two tear gas canisters as he covered student protests at a university in the capital city of Bogotá, while two regional media directors received death threats after one was attacked in a different protest, Periodistas en Español reports.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has filed a case against Colombia in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for failing to provide justice and protection for journalist Luís Gonzalo “Richard” Vélez Restrepo, who was attacked by soldiers in 1996, while filming farmers protesting the destruction of coca crops. See reports in English by the IACHR and Colombia Reports.
Police in Rio de Janeiro have identified the car used in the nearly fatal shooting of a blogger, Ricardo Gama, reported the news site Terra. As such, it will be easier to identify the shooter, said prosecutor Bruno Gilabert.