July-December 2010 caselist - PEN International

Since his imprisonment, he has been a prolific writer, having producedsix books of poems, short stories, plays, novels and non fiction, all unpublishedto date. His work has reportedly earned him some 11 nationalawards. Adrián Aranda is an accountant.Death threats*Jorge Alejandro MEDELLIN: journalist with the weekly magazineMilenio reportedly received death threats on 31 October 2010 afterpublishing an article that described possible links between organisedcrime and military and justice department authorities responsible forcombating drug trafficking in the state of Chihuahua. At the bottom ofthe online version of the article, a person identified as “Isacc” posted twocomments in which he threatened to kill the reporter. The comments havesince been removed from the website. The article made reference to thecareer trajectory of Felipe de Jesus Espitia Hernandez, a general in theMexican army who was the coordinator of Joint Operation - Chihuahua,a programme aimed at fighting drug trafficking. Medellín said he wasconcerned about his and his family’s safety and that he had lodged aformal complaint with the Attorney General’s Office, which was passedon to the office for the investigation of organised crime (Subprocuraduríade Investigación Especializada en Delincuencia Organizada, SIEDO).Attacked*Martha CHAN DZUL (f): reporter for the daily newspaper Diario deYucatán, was assaulted by a group of people including a local officialon 25 October 2010 when she was collecting statements denouncingalleged irregularities in the administration of communal land in SanDiego Tixcacal, outside Mérida in Yucatán state. The journalist was interviewinglocal residents who complained that a local official was takingover plots of land and buying others worth a great deal at very low priceswhen at least four brothers of the official in question attacked Chan withsticks. She ran away and tried to hide but they and other family membersfollowed her. Chan recorded the events on a video camera. She then triedto leave the village but was prevented from doing so on three occasionsby 15 members of the official’s family. She eventually managed to takerefuge in nearby house where she called the newspaper and the police toask for help. In her last attempt to leave the village she was confrontedby the official, who pushed her around, knocking her camera and mobilephone to the ground. The police then arrived and managed to arrest theofficial and two of his sisters; the other assailants fled. All three werelater released on bail. Chan reported the incident to the Public Ministry.She was not seriously injured but feared for her safety.*Jaime FARRERA: reporter for the daily newspaper ElMexicano, was reportedly attacked and threatened byfederal police officers in Villa Ahumada, Chihuahua state,on 14 September 2010. According to Farrera, that morning he noticedaround 50 policemen in a restaurant, some with their faces covered. Heapproached them to ask about the apparent operation but was interceptedand asked to move away as the police were there to “look after the boss”.After an exchange, Farrera was insulted and thrown out of the restaurantbut was then followed by one of the policemen who tried to take Farrera’sbag containing his camera, alleging that he had taken photos of thepolice. During the tussle two of Farrera’s notebooks fell out of the bagand were confiscated by the policemen who said they would only givehim them back if he gave them the camera, threatening him with kicksand slaps. Farrera refused and managed to get away from them and totake a photo of the policemen concerned, who threatened to “investigate”him on the basis of his notebooks, which the journalist said containeddetails of professional contacts and family members.*Edgar Irán LÓPEZ HERNANDEZ: reporter for the newspaper Óralewas reportedly kidnapped on 17 July 2010 by officers from Oluta municipalpolice force, who allegedly also attempted to kill him. The incidenttook place after López witnessed police officers and the municipality’smayor harassing another journalist. López and a reporter from anothernewspaper went to Oluta to cover a political event. When they arrived,residents were complaining that there were armed officers in the policestation in a state of inebriation. The local mayor arrived at the scene andwas photographed by Notisur reporter Enrique Quiroz García as he wasreprimanding one of the officers, who had been arrested for being drunk.López watched as the mayor took Quiroz’ camera and officers unsuccessfullytried to detain him. López then left but was apparently followed bythe police, who subsequently beat and threatened him, warning him notto publish anything about what had taken place that night. They also stolehis money and equipment and threatened to kill him, only leaving whenthey thought they had succeeded in shooting him. López and Quiroz fileda complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Investigations Office in Acayucafor several crimes, including attempted murder. The mayor said that hewould cooperate in the investigation however at the time the incident wasreported no one had been arrested in connection with the case.Threatened*Adriana LUNA (f): correspondent for the daily newspaper Excélsior,was threatened by the Jalisco secretary of public security, it was reportedon 30 October 2010. Following a ceremony paying homage to ninepolice officers allegedly killed during an ambush by criminals, Lunaapproached the official to ask about allegations that on the day of theambush the police officers had been serving as bodyguards to a drug trafficker.The official was enraged, accused Luna of being in cohorts withthe criminals and made veiled threats against her husband. Luna reportedthe threats to the State Human Rights Commission, which issued precautionarymeasures guaranteeing the safety of the journalist and her familyon 1 November.*Isaín MANDUJANO and Ángeles MARISCAL (f): correspondents inChiapas state of, respectively, the magazine Proceso and the newspaperLa Jornada. In late July 2010, the two journalists denounced a smearcampaign against them which they said aimed to discredit their work andin which various Chiapas state media outlets had actively participated.The reporters attributed the attacks to officials’ anger at their coverageof the activities of various groups and organizations critical of the stateauthorities. In a series of unsigned notes published in various mediaoutlets, the journalists were accused of taking part in a strategy to destabilizethe state government by creating the impression that it was repressingsocial movements and of manipulating information. Emails sent from anaccount supposedly belonging to Mariscal were also circulated, promising“support” in exchange for helping to mobilize protests; Mariscaldenies writing or sending these messages. The accusations against thereporters had also been broadcast on the Chiapas radio and televisionnetwork. Mandujano said that he and Mariscal had requested a meetingwith the state governor to discuss the matter and that they planned to filea complaint to the state and federal human rights commissions as well asto sue for slander.*Elías MEDINA PINEDO: journalist and columnist for the newspaper ElSudcaliforniano, was reportedly threatened by a Democratic RevolutionParty (PRD) activist outside the premises of the Municipal Committee35