Mexico was one of the first countries to create a special prosecutor's office to investigate crimes against journalists. The Special Prosecutor for Attention to Crimes Committed against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE) was created in 2010 in response to the increase in attacks, particularly murders, against journalists. Yet, from its inception to 2021, the FEADLE has only obtained 28 convictions.
Join the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas Tuesday, Aug. 2, for a free webinar as we launch a free multilingual ebook on journalist safety in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Online harassment of journalists in Brazil has intensified in recent years due to the potential for exposure created by social media and the institutionalization of these attacks. President Jair Bolsonaro’s attacks against journalists have naturalized this type of violence in these online platforms, and those who should support these professionals are guilty of lack of accountability, reveals a study on violence against journalists on social media.
Colombian journalist Claudia Julieta Duque, who for two decades experienced psychological torture, life in exile and persecution for a journalistic investigation, said that the recent decision of the highest court of Colombian public administration is the most important in the fight for justice in the face of violations of her human rights.
Twenty-two journalists were murdered in Latin American countries between January and June 2022. Data are from the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC). The number is higher than the total number of journalists killed in countries in the region last year: 17. It is also higher than journalists killed in coverage of the war in Ukraine: 16 in the same period.
Statistical data shows that in the last three years, the most common response of the Guatemalan public prosecutor to cases of attacks against journalists was dismissal. Only 1 percent of the cases end up with a conviction. Under Attorney General María Consuelo Porras, the budget to investigate crimes against this profession was reduced by 77 percent.
The only office that exists in Honduras to investigate violence against journalists and protect this vulnerable group is the FEPRODDHH, but it has only five prosecutors – all based in Tegucigalpa – without assigned investigators and without legal jurisdiction to investigate murders or assassinations.
Attacks with stones, sticks, boiling liquids, threats, and hindrance to access information are some of the aggressions the press has experienced so far while covering the protests that began on June 13 in Ecuador.
The murders of British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian Indigenous affairs expert Bruno Pereira have drawn national and international attention to the Amazon region where the borders between Brazil, Peru, and Colombia meet. On the Brazilian side, the absence of the State and a strong presence of organized crime inhibit local journalists from reporting on illegal activities.
Across Latin America, governments have attempted different models to investigate and prosecute attacks against journalists. It is evident that there is no unified model for creating an office to investigate and prosecute crimes against journalists. Some countries have special prosecutors, while other countries have investigative units. Moreover, the results of their efforts are often difficult to track, according to experts.
LatAm Journalism Review (LJR) heard from friends, co-workers and family of Brazilian journalist Tim Lopes, murdered on June 2, 2002. The case provoked profound changes in news companies, with the implementation of security measures and the reduction of coverage in at-risk areas. However, Brazilian journalists feel as vulnerable now, if not more so, than they did 20 years ago.
Chilean journalist Francisca Sandoval died days after being shot in the head while covering violent May 1 Workers' Day demonstrations in the country. The Chilean public prosecutor’s office detained three suspects, and announced that an investigation had also been opened into the police.