Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

attacks on the press in 2009journalists killed: mexicoof the house and into a white NissanTsuru that was parked outside, hiswife told local reporters. He was notheard from again.Authorities found Barrón’s body thenext day in the city of Gómez Palacio,Durango, according to Milenio,a national daily owned by the samecompany as La Opinión. The Durangostate deputy attorney general, NoelDíaz, told reporters that the journalist’sbody was found in an irrigation ditch,according to The Associated Press. Hehad been tortured and shot at least 11times, local news reports said.Barrón, 35, had covered the policebeat for 10 years for La Opinión,a paper based in neighboring Coahuilastate, according to the nationaldaily El Universal. In the days prior tohis kidnapping, he had covered a corruptionscandal in the Torreón policeforce that had resulted in the firing ofmore than 300 police officers, Milenioreported.Federal authorities immediatelytook over the case, Milenio reported.On May 27, the day of Barrón’sfuneral, unidentified individualshung five posters threatening journalistsand soldiers in Torreón, theMexican press reported. The messages,which were allegedly signed bythe leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel,Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, said:“We are here, journalists, ask EliseoBarrón. El Chapo and the cartel donot forgive, be careful, soldiers andjournalists.” One of the posters washung outside a TV station, and ancarryinga notebook and sound equipment,according to reporter MirindraRaparivelo, who was filming the scenefor RTA. Raparivelo recalled the hissof bullets and the smell of gunfire ashe crawled to safety uninjured.At least 25 people were killed andanother 167 injured in the shootings,according to The Associated Press.The country’s defense minister resignedto protest the shootings, whilethe United Nations called for “a fairprocess by which those responsiblewill be brought to justice.”The shootings came amid a deepeningpower struggle between President MarcRavalomanana and his rival, Andry Rajoelina,the outspoken 34-year-old mayorof Antananarivo. Rajoelina took controlof the government later in the year.Ratovonirina, 26, was the firstjournalist killed in the line of duty inMadagascar since CPJ began keepingdetailed death records in 1992.MEXICO: 2Eliseo Barrón HernándezLa OpiniónMay 25, 2009, Gómez PalacioAt around 8 p.m., at least eight hoodedgunmen entered the house where Barrón,a reporter and photographer forthe Torreón-based daily La Opinión,lived with his wife and two youngdaughters, according to news reportsand CPJ interviews. The assailantsbeat the reporter and forced him outother outside a radio station, localpress reports said.On June 12, the Mexican army reportedlydetained five suspects at aroutine roadblock. In a statement,the federal Attorney General’s officesaid that one suspect, Israel SánchezJaimes, confessed to kidnapping andshooting the journalist. Sánchez saidLucio Fernández, also known as “Lucifer,”the Durango head of the criminalgang Los Zetas, had ordered Barrón’skilling “in order to teach a lessonto other local journalists so that theywouldn’t meddle in the work of thedelinquent group,” according to theAttorney General’s office.Bladimir Antuna GarcíaEl Tiempo de DurangoNovember 2, 2009, DurangoTwo vehicles intercepted a car thatAntuna, 39, a crime reporter for thedaily El Tiempo de Durango, was drivingto work in Durango, 560 miles (900kilometers) northeast of Mexico City.Witnesses quoted in local press reportssaid that armed men got out of a JeepCherokee, dragged Antuna from his carinto theirs, and then sped away.Local authorities found Antuna’sbody that evening not far from wherehe was abducted. Next to the bodywas a note stating: “This happened tome for giving information to soldiersand for writing too much,” accordingto the national daily La Jornada. Localinvestigators told reporters thatthe journalist appeared to have beenstrangled.Victor Garza, editor of El Tiempode Durango, told CPJ that Antuna hadbroken a story on corruption in theDurango City police in the week beforehis death. The journalist had alsoinvestigated the April murder of fellowEl Tiempo de Durango reporter CarlosOrtega Samper, although he had notyet published a story, colleagues said.Ortega reported on local corruption;CPJ was investigating whether hisdeath was linked to his work.Antuna’s colleagues said he had receivedat least three death threats inrecent months. The latest, they toldCPJ, was a telephone threat from anunidentified individual who told thereporter that he would get no furtherwarnings. In April, armed menapproached the reporter’s home atnight but did not open fire, a colleaguesaid.In a November 5 statement, DurangoState Prosecutor Daniel GarcíaLeal said Antuna never filed a complaintrelated to the threats againsthim, Mexican press reports said.García said local authorities did investigatethe April incident.The local press freedom group Centerfor Journalism and Public Ethics saidAntuna had told the organization in Junethat he had been in contact with anotherDurango journalist who was murderedin May, Eliseo Barrón Hernández. Thecenter said Antuna told them he andBarrón had been exchanging informationabout police corruption and organizedcrime in the state.260261