Download - English PEN

28
writes a political column for the newspaper La Voz del Caribe,
contributes to the Mexico City-based magazines Día Siete and
Tentaciones, is the editorial director of the magazine Esta boca es mía
(This mouth is mine) and presents a television programme of the same
name. She is also a specialist on issues of violence and gender for the
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and has cofounded
a network of journalists in Mexico, Central America and the
Caribbean. Trial outcome: In October 2006 Cacho’s lawyers succeeded
in transferring her case from Puebla to the Federal District of Mexico
City, where defamation had been repealed as a criminal offence in April
2006. As a result, the court dismissed the charges against Cacho on 2
January 2007 and the trial was discontinued. Cacho in turn successfully
sought an official investigation into the violation of her constitutional
rights and into those allegedly involved in her kidnapping. In mid June
2007 this investigation was before Mexican Supreme Court and it
seemed likely that a number of officials allegedly involved in her kidnapping,
including Puebla governor Mario Marín, would be put on trial.
New threats: Cacho continues to receive death and other threats on a
regular basis. She is under the 24-hour protection of bodyguards and
travels in an armoured car. Despite these precautions, on 7 May 2007, a
car in which she was travelling (reportedly the property of the Federal
Attorney General’s Office - PGR) narrowly avoided crashing after some
wheel bolts had apparently been intentionally loosened, indicating sabotage.
Cacho and her lawyer lodged an official complaint the following
day. New information: On 29 November 2007, the Mexican Supreme
Court of Justice ruled that there had been no serious violation of Cacho’s
rights under Article 97 of the Constitution when she was arrested and
transferred from Quintana Roo to Puebla in December 2005. Cacho said
she would take her case to an international court.
Death threats
*Ernesto DE LA CUEVA BELLO: journalist and editor for the cultural
section of the daily newspaper Milenio, has reported fearing for his life.
On 19 October 2007, De La Cueva sent a public letter to the media
stating that he had received reliable information to the effect that the
mayor of Metepec, Mexico state, had ordered his murder. The journalist
believes that the threats are related to his reporting on irregularities at the
city hall allegedly involving the mayor.
*Gonzalo DOMÍNGUEZ MONROY, Felipe RAMOS CRUZ and
Carlos DOMÍNGUEZ MONROY: regional director and journalists
respectively, of the Oaxaca–based daily El Imparcial del Istmo, reportedly
received death threats in late 2007. On 8 October, three of the newspaper
vendors were shot dead while driving the company van. There are
fears that the attack could be related to the paper’s coverage of the criminal
activities of a drug trafficking gang in Oaxaca state. According to a
11 October joint report by CENCOS, Article 19-Mexico and IPYS-
Mexico, there had been the newspaper staff had resigned en masse due to
fear and insecurity. Domínguez and Ramos had also resigned in fear for
their lives and those of their families. A complaint was filed with the
Oaxaca Prosecutor’s Office (Procuraduría de Justicia del Estado de
Oaxaca). [RAN 42/07 – 19 October 2007]
*Alberto FERNÁNDEZ PORTILLA: director of the weekly Semanario
del Istmo, political columnist of the daily El Sol del Istmo, both based in
Salina Cruz, and the Juchitan daily El Sur, as well as the producer of a
radio news programme, was shot five times when returning to his home
in Salina Cruz, Oaxaca state in the early hours of 5 August 2007. The
gunman shouted ‘So that you don’t forget my leader’ (pa que no te
olvides de mi lider) before shooting, and then shot Fernandez in the
abdomen, right arm and left leg. It has been reported that the journalist
believes the attack was related to coverage of cases on corruption in the
oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex). Following this attack,
Fernández’s colleagues Daniel PEREZ ESPINOZA and Edwin
MENESES SANTIAGO reportedly started to receive telephone death
threats, which they also believe to be related to their reporting. The case
is being investigated by the Special Prosecutor for crimes against
Journalists (Fiscalía Especial para la atención de Crímenes contra los
Periodistas) in Oaxaca.
Mario Renato MENÉNDEZ RODRÍGUEZ: director and owner of Por
Esto newspaper based in Mérida, Yucatán state, in southern Mexico.
Menéndez reports being harassed and receiving death threats in Mérida
on 30 June 2007. He attributes the threats to federal and Yucatán state
government officials who are unhappy with his publication of articles
critical of their alleged connections to drugs and people trafficking.
Menéndez believes that a price has been put on his head by the head of a
local criminal group. He also reports that he has previously suffered
harassment, including being detained four times by members of the
Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduría General de la República (PGR).
In 2006, the newspaper suffered two grenade attacks, one against its
Cancún branch on 23 August and another against its Mérida headquarters
on 1 September, which left three journalists injured. New information:
On 9 July 2007, it was reported that federal congressman José Luis
Blanco had documented and condemned the threats made against
Menéndez. The head of the Judiciary and the governor of Yucatan have
adopted a similar position. PEN monitoring.
*Martín SERRANO HERRERA: editor of the newspaper Tribuna,
based in Veracruz state, reported receiving a death threat on 28 August
2007, when five bullets were left by his front door. The bullets were
wrapped in a page of the newspaper containing an article on a series of
aggressions against the press by the governor of Veracruz state, Serrano
filed a complaint with the authorities, and asked for protection for
himself and his family.
Threatened
*Fredy Martín PÉREZ LÓPEZ and Jorge BECERRA: journalist for
the newspaper El Universal and reporter for the daily Diario Meridiano
respectively, were reportedly harassed and verbally attacked by members
of the Municipal Police’s Federal Investigation Agency (Agencia Federal
de Investigación de la Policía Municipal y Vialidad Municipal) in the
early hours of 7 October 2007. The intimidation occurred when the journalists
were returning from covering an indigenous and campesino
protest in Venustiano Carranza, Chiapas state, south-east Mexico. They
were following some police cars when they were stopped by a truck.
Several armed men got out of the truck and pointed their guns at the journalists.
Pérez recognised one of the armed men as the co-ordinator of
public security, José Ever Espinoza Chirino, and referred to him by name
to ensure he knew that the journalists were aware of his identity. After a
discussion, the incident ended. Pérez and Becerra said they would file a
complaint with the authorities.
Attacked
*Oscar LÓPEZ and Ariel RAMÍREZ ARRIETA: of the cultural publication
El perro azul, were ill treated by police officers of the State
Preventive Police in Cuernavaca, Morelos state, from 27 and 28 October
2007. On 29 October, the newspaper La Jornada de Morelos reported
that López had been beaten and had sustained injuries to his arms, legs,
back, hands and ribs. Three other people were also injured. López was