Arrest warrants issued for Cacho case

Warrants for the arrest of five public employees involved in the illegal detention of journalist Lydia Cacho (pictured) have been issued in Mexico after the nation’s Supreme Court decided at the end of last year not to pursue legal proceedings against those involved in the case. The Attorney General’s office, which represents a special office [...]

April update: Violence against journalists continues

April is shaping up to be a bad month for journalists in Mexico.

Mexico: Impunity and Collusion

Threats to reporters from government and criminals are making investigative journalism impossible, writes Deborah Bonello In February this year, the car of Mexican journalist Estrada Zamora was found empty on the side of the road in the southern state of Michoacán with its engine running. Zamora was not inside and has not been seen since. [...]

Rights group attacks impunity in Mexico

The limited attempts of the Mexican Government to tackle the high levels of violence against journalists testifies ‘to the inability or unwillingness of the Mexican authorities to make the fight against impunity,’ according to Article19, the freedom of expression NGO. Dr. Agnes Callamard, executive director of the group, said in a statement that the impunity [...]

Mexico still deadliest country in the Americas for journalists, says RWB

Mexico remains the deadliest country in the Americas for journalists with two murders in less than a month, and three disappearances, according to today’s annual report from Reporters Without Borders. Three journalists were murdered last year, and three media workers were shot dead. Those levels are an improvement on 2006, when nine journalists were killed, [...]

Violence against journalists surged this week

The developments in the Lydia Cacho case and her revelations yesterday come in a week when violence against journalists surged again. Last year four reporters were murdered and three disappeared, and 2008 is promising to be as equally violent for members of the profession.

Supreme Court Judges Were Bribed, says Cacho

The Supreme Court judges who voted that the rights of Lydia Cacho were not violated enough when she was arrested, detained and tortured by Puebla’s police under the orders of Governor Mario Marin were paid off by Marin’s lawyers, according to the journalist. Cacho made the accusation, which if true promises to scandalize Mexico’s Supreme [...]

New Year, Old Problems for Journalists in Mexico

Although one hates to be a pessimist, the coming year is still looking grim for journalists in Mexico. Despite the fact that the numbers of murdered journalists declined last year, levels of violence against them are on the rise and the Government is showing no increase in willingness to investigate cases of murder, violence and [...]

President Calderon: Cacho Case ‘Not a Political Compromise’

President Felipe Calderon said yesterday in a speech marking the end of his first year in office that the exoneration of Puebla Governor Mario Marin in last week’s Supreme Court ruling was ‘not a political trade-off’, according to reports today. Speaking at a press conference last night in which he summarized his first year in [...]

Writers and NGOs: Supreme Court Ruling is a ‘Disgrace’

Writers, journalists and non-governmental organisations have called the Supreme Court’s decision at the end of last week a ‘disgrace’. The Court ruled that the rights of journalist Lydia Cacho’s had not been sufficiently violated to warrant legal action against Puebla State Governor Mario Marin. In a show of solidarity for the journalist, twenty of the [...]