Journalists in Mexico need more protection

Mexican flag courtesy Wikipedia

Two human rights experts are calling on the Mexican government to do more to protect journalists in that country.

David Kay and Edison Lanza, special rapporteurs on freedom of expression for the UN and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, spent a week in Mexico from  November 27 to December 4, meeting more than 250 journalists and members of civil society organizations from 21 Mexican states.

“We were appalled by the stories we heard from journalists, presenting a dire picture of the hostile environment they faced. Sexual harassment against women journalists, reporters forced to flee their homes, killings and disappearances, and pervasive impunity were common features in their narratives,” said Mr. Kay and Mr. Lanza.

“The need to address protection and accountability will be especially critical in 2018, when Mexicans will vote in federal, state and local elections. Ensuring the safety of journalists enables them to gather and disseminate information on matters of the highest public interest,” they added.

The special rapporteurs urged the government to conduct an independent investigation into the well-documented reports of the digital surveillance of journalists, human rights defenders, politicians and others. 

The government established the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists in 2012. A specialized prosecution mechanism was earlier created within the Office of the Prosecutor General in 2010.

“Violence against journalists has been a crisis for Mexico for more than a decade, and yet, despite the government’s creation of protection and prosecution mechanisms, impunity and insecurity continue to characterize the situation throughout the country,” said the special rapporteurs.

“In this situation, we urge the government to rapidly and substantially increase the resources available to the mechanisms which have been set up to deliver protection and accountability. Mexico has already taken the laudable step of creating these institutions; now it should give them the tools to be effective.”

The special rapporteurs will deliver a final report later in the year.

Since 1994, 97 members of the media have been killed in Mexico, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.