Journalist José Luis Galdámez and his family deserve protection by Honduran authorities, according to an order from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, reported the Associated Press.
Pakistan became the most deadly country for journalists in 2010, with eight colleagues killed during the year in connection with their work. In a year when 42 journalists were killed worldwide, Honduras, Mexico and Iraq also ranked high, the Committee to Protect Journalists says in a year-end analysis. See more world news coverage of CPJ’s report.
Peasants allegedly armed with assault rifles shot at a photographer for La Prensa newspaper while he was reporting on the military’s efforts to disarm farmers in the Atlantic coast region of Bajo Aguán, Proceso Digital reports.
Member countries of the UN Human Rights Council criticized Honduras and sought more information about human right violations since the coup that unseated President Manuel Zelaya, and about the killings of nine journalists in 2010, Inter Press Service reports. (See this earlier story in English).
On Nov. 4, Honduras will have its Universal Periodic Review, an evaluation by the United Nations Human Rights Council. In the lead-up to this event, more than 32 press freedom organizations in the IFEX network have presented recommendations to combat the “deplorable human rights situation” in the country.
Katherine Izaguirre, a journalist for the Honduran station Globo TV, said several armed individuals kidnapped her for two hours, threatened her, and then stole her camera, El Tiempo reports.
Luis Galdámez, a reporter for Radio Globo and TV Globo, was attacked by three shooters in front of his house in the capital city of Tegucigalpa, La Tribuna reports. The journalist used his own gun to fight off the attackers.
The decision of the Honduran Congress to allocate the frequency of television channel Canal 8 to the government has prompted criticisms, and the owner of Teleunsa -- which currently operates the signal -- has accused President Porfirio Lobo of plotting to take over the station, reported La Prensa and AFP.
According to C-Libre/IFEX, the harassment against Radio Uno in the city of San Pedro Sula has escalated during the past three months and this week its broadcast signal was interrupted when unknown persons cut the electricity to the station's transmitters.
The Mexican press has become a target for drug-related violence, prompting a company to promote its bullet-proof vests as a way of protecting members of the media, according to Clarín and news agencies.