An act of aggression in opposition to Mexican media employees and organizations was dedicated each 16 hours on common through the first half of 2023, in keeping with press freedom advocacy group Article 19.
Bodily assaults, threats and homicide are among the many types of violence documented by the Mexican department of the worldwide non-governmental group in a report entitled “Violencia contra la prensa: entre ataques, estigmatización y ausencia del estado” (Violence in opposition to the Press: between Assaults, Stigmatization and Absence of the State).
A few of the acts of aggression documented by Article 19 are crimes, whereas others should not. Let’s check out the report’s key findings.
The press suffered 272 acts of aggression between January and June
The commonest type of aggression was “intimidation and harassment” with 68 documented instances, or 25% of the entire. Rating second was “illegitimate use of public energy” in opposition to the press with 61 instances, whereas “threats” ranked third with 49 instances.
Among the many different acts of aggression documented by Article 19 have been bodily assaults (15 instances); kidnapping (8 instances); torture or merciless, inhumane and degrading remedy (3 instances); and homicide (1 case).
Of the 272 victims, 148 have been males, 84 have been ladies and 40 have been media organizations.
Article 19 famous that a further two journalists have been murdered in July and a photojournalist disappeared the identical month. It stated that 161 journalists have been murdered since 2000, together with 41 through the present federal administration.
The state is the primary perpetrator of hostile acts in opposition to the press
Simply over half of the 272 acts of aggression in opposition to media employees and organizations – 140, or 51% of the entire – have been dedicated by authorities authorities. Public officers perpetrated 102 of these acts, civilian safety forces dedicated 34 and the armed forces dedicated 4.
State authorities officers dedicated the best variety of acts of aggression in opposition to the press – primarily “illegitimate use of public energy” and “intimidation and harassment” – adopted by federal officers and municipal officers.
Non-public residents made up the second largest group of perpetrators of crimes in opposition to the press. Article 19 additionally documented acts of aggression dedicated by organized crime teams and political events.
Journalists masking corruption and politics are most in danger
Simply over half of the 272 acts of aggression – 137 – have been dedicated in opposition to media employees who report on corruption and politics.
“This truth highlights as soon as once more the potential function of authorities in violence in opposition to the press,” Article 19 stated in its report.
There have been 67 documented offenses in opposition to journalists who cowl safety and justice; 29 in opposition to those that report on protests or social actions; and 26 in opposition to reporters who cowl human rights points.
Mexico Metropolis is the epicenter of violence in opposition to the media
Nearly one-quarter of the documented acts of aggression – 65 instances or 23.9% of the entire – have been dedicated within the capital. Quintana Roo, which incorporates the resort cities of Cancún and Playa del Carmen, ranked second with 21 instances adopted by Guanajuato (Mexico’s most violent state by way of homicides) with 19 instances. Puebla and Coahuila have been shut behind with 18 and 17 instances, respectively.
On a constructive observe, there wasn’t a single documented case of aggression in opposition to the press in seven states: Hidalgo, Chihuahua, Querétaro, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Nayarit and Tabasco.
A number of aggression in opposition to the press emanates from AMLO’s mañaneras
Of the 65 acts of aggression in Mexico Metropolis within the first half of the yr, “over half, 42, got here from … the morning press conferences of the federal govt,” Article 19 stated.
“Of those, 39 have been in opposition to media shops positioned in Mexico Metropolis, primarily nationwide media shops like Reforma, Carmen Aristegui Noticias, the Proceso journal … amongst others. In … the morning press conferences, the federal govt energy … described the press in a destructive manner on 114 events, of which 42 have been categorised as acts of direct aggression,” the group stated.
Article 19 famous that not all of these remarks “correspond to an act of aggression documented and categorised on this report.”
The group stated in 2019 that López Obrador’s “stigmatizing discourse” in opposition to the media “has a direct affect by way of the … threat it may generate for the work of the press as a result of [his remarks] permeate within the discourse of the remainder of society and may even generate assaults.”
Because the statistics above point out, the president continuously makes verbal assaults on the press. He accuses the overwhelming majority of media shops of “manipulating” info somewhat than reporting the reality.
The Inter-American Fee on Human Rights has repeatedly urged the federal authorities to terminate its weekly pretend information exposé periods – referred to as “Who’s Who within the Lies of the Week – whereas politicians right here and overseas have denounced the president for his open disdain of some journalists and sections of the media.
Nearly 3,000 acts of violence in opposition to the press since AMLO took workplace
Article 19 documented 2,941 “instances of violence in opposition to the press through the mandate of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador,” who was sworn in on Dec. 1, 2018.
Through the first six months of former president Enrique Peña Nieto’s second final yr in workplace, there have been 276 acts of aggression in opposition to the press – 4 greater than within the first half of this yr. Within the first half of 2011 when Felipe Calderón was within the fifth yr of his presidency, Article 19 documented 91 instances.
What ought to the authorities do?
Within the last pages of its report, Article 19 made quite a few suggestions to authorities to deal with “the context of violence that persists in opposition to journalists and media organizations.”
It suggested federal, state and municipal governments to “create and implement complete public insurance policies” that stop violence in opposition to the press and defend media employees.
Article 19 additionally referred to as on authorities to undertake “a story that acknowledges the significance of the work of journalists and media shops inside a democratic context, and to abstain from making stigmatizing, criminalizing and disqualifying statements in opposition to them.”
Amongst different suggestions, the NGO suggested legislatures to “legislate in favor of journalistic work and freedom of knowledge” and urged the Federal Legal professional Basic’s Workplace to take steps to make sure that investigations into crimes dedicated in opposition to the press are “efficient, exhaustive and diligent.”
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