Pubdate: Fri, 04 May 2012
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2012 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Sonia Verma

DISMEMBERED BODIES OF PHOTOJOURNALISTS FOUND IN MEXICO ON WORLD PRESS 
FREEDOM DAY

Thursday marked World Press Freedom Day, a UN-declared event meant to 
underscore the connection between journalism and democracy. It also 
highlights the very real dangers journalists face reporting the news 
in the world's hot zones.

These days, one of the worst places to be a journalist is Veracruz, 
Mexico. There, on World Press Freedom Day, the dismembered bodies of 
three photojournalists -- Gabriel Huge, Guillermo Luna and Esteban 
Rodriguez --  were found in a shallow waterway in the Mexican port 
city. The body of Luna's girlfriend, Irasema Becerra, was found not 
far from them. Mexican prosecutors said the victims showed signs of 
being tortured and that their bodies had been dismembered. The 
killings were likely committed by organized drug cartels that have 
terrorized the region for years.

Mexico's raging drug wars have resulted in tens of thousands of 
killings and kidnappings a year, but journalists are increasingly 
being specifically targeted. Freedom House notes that sixty 
journalists have been killed over the past ten years in Mexico.

Mr. Huge and Mr. Luna were evidently killed for the work they did for 
Notiver, a Mexican newspaper which has covered the drug wars. Fearing 
the fate that they ultimately met, they had apparently quit the 
paper. Mr. Rodriguez, for his part, quit his job as a photographer 
for the local newspaper AZ to work as a welder.

Mexico "continued to be one of the world's most dangerous places for 
journalists," according to Freedom House's annual press freedom 
survey. The country slid to the "not free" status in Freedom House's 
2010 report, and continues to rank dismally in the survey.

The area around Veracruz has emerged as a key battleground between 
the Zetas and New Generation cartels. Just last September, 35 bodies 
were brazenly dumped on a freeway during rush-hour.

While freedom of the press is theoretically enshrined in Mexico's 
constitution, the violence against journalists has compelled 
publishers to do everything from self-censor to attempt to directly 
engage the cartels.

Since 2010, drug traffickers' have exerted increasing influence over 
the news agenda: "A range of techniques was employed, including 
forcing media outlets to print the traffickers' press releases as 
well as threatening and bribing journalists," according to Freedom House.

In 2010, after an attack on two of their employees, El Diario 
newspaper printed a front page editorial asking the cartels to 
clarify what they should and should not publish in order to avoid retribution.

That same year, rival drug gangs demanded media coverage of messages 
aimed at rivals or the state in return for the safe release of four 
journalist hostages.

Increasingly Mexicans are blaming their government for failing to end 
the culture of impunity, and freedom of the press has emerged as a 
major issue during the country's current presidential campaign. While 
Mexico has a special prosecutor for crimes against freedom of 
expression, the office has so far failed to bring a single case to justice.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom