A photojournalist was shot to death on Sunday evening, April 14, in the city of Coronel Fabriciano, Minas Gerais, reported Estado de Minas. Walgney Assis Carvalho, 43 years old, was a freelancer for the newspaper Vale do Aço, the same publication where slain reporter Rodrigo Neto worked. Both worked the police beat and were known for denouncing crimes involving law enforcement. This is the fourth case of a journalist killed in Brazil so far in 2013.
In a front-page editorial on April 2, the Mexican newspaper El Imparcial asked the new president of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, not to forget the case of Alfredo Jiménez Mota, a journalist who covered the police beat in the northern state of Sonora and disappeared eight years ago.
A Colombian prosecutor with the human rights unit ordered the arrest of seven former officials with the country’s intelligence center who are being accused of psychological torture against a journalist, Caracol Radio’s news portal reported.
The Committee to Protect Journalists submitted a report on threats against the press in Latin American countries to the president of the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil, Joaquim Barbosa, on Wednesday, March 6, reported the Court's website.
Former Haitian President René Préval testified privately on Thursday, March 7, as part of an effort to re-open a criminal investigation into the killing of muckraking journalist Jean Dominique, reported the Associated Press.
Impunity continues to be one of the most serious problems facing freedom of expression in Latin America and the Caribbean, according the International Freedom of Expression Exchange in Latin American and Caribbean's (IFEX-ALC) Annual Report on Impunity 2012.
On Monday, March 4, the Social Communication Council of the National Congress of Brazil approved a request to speed up voting on a proposal to federalize the investigation of crimes against journalists, said newspaper Folha de S. Paulo.
The Mexican federal government will carry out an audit of all contracts given out to provide security to journalists and human rights advocates during the administration of former president Felipe Calderón (2006-2012), according to the Campaign for Free Expression.
Two Colombian journalists claimed they were physically and verbally attacked by a former congressman and his wife in the view of police officers, who did nothing to stop the assault, reported the Colombian Federation of Journalists (FECOLPER in Spanish). The attack took place in Sincelejo, Sucre when the two journalists tried to cover a suspected robbery at the home of former Congressman Héctor Vergara, added FECOLPER.
The International Press Institute released a statement on Monday, Feb. 18, warning of rising impunity for crimes against journalists in Brazil and insisting the Congress approve a bill that would allow federal authorities to investigate attacks on press workers in the country.
The Attorney General of Maranhão, Regina Lúcia de Almeida Rocha, claimed last week that the defense in the trial for the murder of journalist Décio Sá is attempting to “delay the course of proceedings” against the accused, said G1.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), a branch of the Organization of American States, decided to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Brazilian journalist Vladimir Herzog in 1975, during the military dictatorship.