Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

attacks on the press in 2009journalists killed: motive unconfirmedThe body of Martínez, anchor of theradio news programs “W Acapulco”on national W Radio and “Guerreroen Vivo” on local Radiorama Acapulco,was found partially buried in a vacantlot in the town of La Máquina inthe state of Guerrero, Mexican newsreports said. The journalist had beenbadly beaten, his hands and feet weretied, and his head was wrapped inbrown tape, authorities told the localpress. Forensic experts said thatMartínez was asphyxiated, the newsweeklyProceso reported.Enrique Silva, Radiorama Acapulco’snews director, told CPJ that Martínezwas cautious when reporting the newsand didn’t investigate sensitive topicssuch as drug trafficking or police activities.He said that the journalist had notinformed him of any threats.Colleagues who spoke to CPJ saidthey believed the killing was related toMartínez’s work although they wereunable to pinpoint a specific story. Thestate prosecutor told local reporters thathis office would review tapes of the journalist’srecent broadcasts to try to determinea possible motive for his murder.Norberto Miranda MadridRadio VisiónSeptember 23, 2009Nuevo Casas GrandesTwo unidentified men wearing skimasks burst into the offices of localRadio Visión, where Miranda and hisbrother, José, were working, reporterstold CPJ. The assailants shot Mirandarepeatedly in the back of the head inthe 11 p.m. attack, a spokesman forthe Chihuahua state prosecutor’s office,Julio César Castañeda, told CPJ.News reports said he died at the scene,but his brother was unharmed.Miranda, 44, known as “El Gallito”(The Tough Guy), wrote a blog calledCotorreando con el Gallito and was ahost on Radio Visión. A reporter with15 years of experience, he was knownfor his harsh criticism of local crime, accordingto the national daily El Universal.In his most recent columns, he criticizedthe lack of safety in Nuevo CasasGrandes and its surrounding areas.The journalist’s last blog entry detailedwhat he said was a string of 25execution-style murders in the area.He pointed to organized crime groupsas the executioners.José Emilio Galindo RoblesRadio Universidad de GuadalajaraNovember 24, 2009Ciudad GuzmánGalindo’s body, gagged and tied toa bed, was found inside his home inCiudad Guzmán, western Jaliscostate, after he had been missing forseveral days, local press reports said.The journalist died of a blow to thehead, according to authorities quotedin local press reports. Galindo, 43,was the anchor and faculty director ofthe Ciudad Guzmán-based affiliate ofRadio Universidad de Guadalajara.Galindo reported on environmentalissues, a beat that can put Mexicanjournalists in conflict with powerfuleconomic interests, colleagues toldCPJ. Galindo had not mentioned receivingthreats, said Jorge Lomelí, RadioUniversidad de Guadalajara’s generalproducer and a close friend of thejournalist.Galindo, a veteran reporter who hadbeen awarded several national and regionaljournalism awards, joined GuadalajaraUniversity’s radio program in1993, the university said. He hosted anightly radio and television program,as well as directing several radio newsbroadcasts. The university said Galindoalso contributed to several localand national newspapers.State prosecutors, who were investigatingGalindo’s death, said they werelooking at robbery as a cause but hadnot discounted other motives, includingGalindo’s journalism, according tolocal news reports.José Alberto Velázquez LópezExpresiones de TulumDecember 22, 2009, TulumVelázquez, owner of Expresiones deTulum in the southeastern state ofQuintana Roo, was shot shortly afterleaving a newspaper Christmas party,according to local news reports. Twomen aboard a motorcycle came alongsidethe publisher’s car, and one assailantfired a pistol that hit Velázqueztwice, the paper’s deputy editor, LuisGamboa, told CPJ. Gravely wounded,Velázquez was transferred to a hospitalin Cancún where he died thatnight, local press reports said.Gamboa said the paper had receivedseveral anonymous death threats byphone over recent months, and that itsprinting press had been firebombed inNovember. Velázquez, who was alsoa lawyer, had written several articlesaccusing local officials of corruption,mismanagement, and disdain for thepublic, Gamboa said.PAKISTAN: 3Raja Assad HameedThe Nation and Waqt TVMarch 26, 2009, RawalpindiUnidentified gunmen killed Hameed,a reporter with the English-languagedaily The Nation and its Urdu-languagetelevision channel, Waqt, whilehe was parking his car at his house.Media accounts of the attack varied.Beena Sarwar, a media and humanrights activist, looked closelyinto the murder and describedwhat she found to CPJ: “His familyrushed out on hearing the gunshotsand found Hameed lying ina pool of blood. The bullets, firedat close range, had pierced his neckand shoulder.” Doctors pronouncedthe journalist dead on arrival atBenazir Bhutto Hospital.Hameed was well-known and heldin high regard. He was fluent in English,Urdu, and Punjabi, and frequentlyappeared on Al-Jazeera, analyzingpolitical developments in Pakistan.2782 7 9