Six years after U.S. Indymedia cameraman Brad Will was shot to death in Oaxaca, Mexico, Mexican authorities have announced the arrest of a former public education employee, Lenin Osorio Ortega, charged with killing Will, reported Milenio. Still, media monitoring groups like Reporters Without Borders remain suspicious about who really killed Will, who was shot while covering a Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) protest on Oct. 27, 2006.
Outraged by the killing of 22 journalists in Honduras since January 2010, communication workers from this country marched to protest the impunity of crimes against journalists and to demand protection of freedom of expression on Friday, May 25, Day of the Journalist in Honduras, reported the newspaper Proceso.
Beyond recognizing the serious crisis of safety and security for journalists in Latin America and the Caribbean, the 10th annual Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas, held May 20-22 in Austin, Texas, served as a platform to launch ideas about how to solve the problem of insecurity. The largest ever Forum, with more than 70 participants representing the Caribbean and most countries in the Americas, was themed "Safety and Protection for Journalists, Bloggers, and Citizen Journalists."
During the last day of the 10th Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas, held May 20-22, the participants gathered into four groups to discuss different and important topics about this year's theme: "Security and Protection for Journalists, Blogger, and Citizen Journalists."
The 10th annual Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas kicked off the night of Sunday, May 20, with an examination of some of the major security issues facing journalists throughout the Americas. During the Forum's opening session, Frank La Rue, the United Nations' special rapporteur for freedom of expression, along with newspaper editors from Mexico and Guatemala, highlighted the risks of independent reporting in a region increasingly racked by violence, corruption and rampant impunity.
One day after reporter Marcos Ávila was kidnapped by three armed men in the Mexican state of Sonora, authorities found the journalist's body strangled and with signs of torture. A message that has been attributed to drug-traffickers was found next to the body, reported the newspaper El Universal on the afternoon of Friday, May 18.
As the investigation into the kidnapping and killing of Honduran journalist Alfredo Villatoro, continues, the local press is reporting on possible motives and suspects behind the crime.
On Thursday, May 10, an appeals court ruled on the killing of Peruvian journalist Alberto Rivera Fernández in 2004 and absolved former Mayor Luis Valdez Villacorta of Coronel Portillo and former City Manager Zolio Ramírez Garay who were accused of being the masterminds behind the crime, reported the Press and Society Institute.
Another Mexican news outlet was the target of an attack on Monday, May 7. This time the shooting was against the newspaper Hora Cero in the city of Reynosa, on the Texas border, according to the newspaper Vanguardia.
The killing of a Mexican crime reporter in the eastern state of Veracruz sparked outrage and protests as the public demanded a thorough investigation and punishment for those responsible.
On Thursday, April 26, Paraguayan journalists gathered to demand better labor rights, the end of impunity, better quality of information, and more plurality among news media in the country, reported the Paraguayan Union of Journalists.
National and international press organizations condemned the killing of Brazilian journalist Décio Sá that occurred the night of Monday, April 23, and groups criticized the increase in impunity of crimes against the Brazilian press.