Washington, D.C., June 17, 2010<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) expressed its concern over the assassination of eight journalists this year as well as the prevalence of threats and harassment the media face in Honduras during a hearing on press freedoms in the Americas Wednesday, June 16, before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.<\/p>\n
Alejandra Nu\u00f1o, CEJIL\u2019s director for Central America and Mexico, described the increasing risk for journalists in Honduras.\u00a0 She noted that three journalists were assassinated between 2003 and the middle of 2009, while from the time of the coup to the present, nine have been slain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese attacks on the media have had a profoundly chilling effect on the free exchange of ideas in Honduras, making national reconciliation and the restoration of a meaningful democracy a distant dream,\u201d said Nu\u00f1o, who also expressed her concern over indications that these murders will be added to the \u201cgrowing list of cases remaining in impunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
All branches of government bear responsibility when journalists face persecution, CEJIL stated.\u00a0 It is the state\u2019s obligation to prevent such occurrences and punish those responsible.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAn effective investigation, along with other protective measures, can, indeed, prevent murders and other violent incidents,\u201d Nu\u00f1o stated.<\/p>\n
CEJIL recommended that the members of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere send a message to the Honduran government that persecution of the media and social communicators must stop and that those who committed crimes against them must be prosecuted.\u00a0 CEJIL also recommended the establishment in Honduras of an office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.<\/p>\n
Between March and June 2010, journalists Joseph Hern\u00e1ndez, Nah\u00fam Palacios, Jorge Alberto Orellana, David Meza, Manuel Ju\u00e1rez, Jos\u00e9 Bayardo Mairena, Luis Antonio Ch\u00e9vez, and Luis Arturo Mondrag\u00f3n have been assassinated.\u00a0 Last July Gabriel Fino Noreiga was also killed.\u00a0 No one has been prosecuted for any of the cases.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, threats and harassment of journalists in Honduras continue.\u00a0 Reporters for Radio Progreso, La Voz de Occidente, and La Voz de Zacate Grande, all stations critical of the government, have faced repeated threats this year.<\/p>\n
Also participating in the hearing were Catalina Botero, the special rapporteur for freedom of expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists; Marcel Granier, president of Radio Caracas Televisi\u00f3n; Eduardo Enr\u00edquez, editor-in-chief of Nicaragua\u2019s La Prensa; and Alejandro Aguirre, president of the Inter-American Press Association.<\/p>\n
Read here the document.<\/p>\n
Read here CEJIL’s comments on the decree creating the Truth Commission in Honduras.<\/p>\n
Press contact: Mauricio Herrera<\/p>\n
Tel: (202) 445-46-76<\/p>\n