As Lille Langtry mentioned in the Memory in Latin America blog, November 23rd is the International Day to End Impunity. Langtry observed that the date highlights crimes against journalists "who have been killed for exercising their right to freedom of expression."
Last week human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) blasted the Mexican government for not doing enough to protect members of the press from violence. "Mexican authorities have to show that they do not tolerate threats and violence against the media by putting in effective preventative measures, leading impartial investigations on these attacks and assuring those responsible are brought to justice," noted AI special advisor Javier Zuniga.
As we mentioned one year ago, several local newspapers decreased their reporting on organized crime in order to prevent being targeted by drug gangs and other criminal groups. Meanwhile journalists under constant harassment and death threats like Emilio Gutierrez Soto have sought political asylum in the neighboring U.S.
The below video from the International Center for Journalists provides testimony from Rocío Idalia Gallegos Rodríguez and Sandra Rodríguez Nieto, a pair of reporters who work at El Diario de Juárez. Despite the great dangers of their investigative work, both of these muckraking reporters have written about drug violence, government corruption and impunity in the northern Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez.
Video Source - YouTube via the International Center for Journalists
Online Sources - Memory in Latin America, GlobalPost, The Latin Americanist, Reuters
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