The human rights organization Article 19 said in a report Thursday that this year will be the most violent on record for journalists in Mexico, with 18 journalists killed so far.
The organization’s regional director, Leopoldo Maldonado, told Reuters that the NGO had identified a possible link to journalistic work in nine of the 18 deaths.
“2022 may be the worst year for the press in a century,” Maldonado said.
In just over eight months, the death toll in 2022 has already surpassed 13 murders recorded last year and 14 murders recorded in 2020. Article 19 found that in about half of the cases in 2021, deaths were linked to the victims’ occupation. and 2020, said the director.
Meanwhile, the organization documented a total of 331 attacks on journalists in the first half of the year, most of them intimidation and harassment. Some have also received threats, and some cases involve allegations of abuse of public power.
This marks an increase of 51.83 percent over the first half of 2018 when former president Enrique Peña Nieto was in power, he said.
In addition, the organization said that four journalists were forcibly displaced within the country in the first half of the year, and two went into exile.
“The role played by the authorities in violence against the press reflects a clear violation of the State’s obligations to guarantee the rights and integrity of journalists and the media,” the report said.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has repeatedly said that his government does not attack the press and that the latest killings were committed by criminal organizations.
Article 19 claimed that the state was behind most attacks on the press, with 128 cases recorded in the first half. The group said this is “a trend that has been consistent since 2007”.
source: Noticias
[author_name]
