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MEXICO 11/15/11: Another blogger murdered and decapitated by the cartels

MEXICO

http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/6245/prmID/1610

PEN International is horrified by the death of yet another blogger, who was murdered and decapitated by a Mexican drugs gang for writing about their crimes. We call on the Mexican authorities to bring the guilty to justice and bring to an end the impunity that exists for those who attack and kill journalists and writers in Mexico.

>> Read PEN's letter of appeal

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On November 9, 2011, the body of a blogger known as Rascatripas was found bound and decapitated In Nuevo Laredo. A message was left with the corpse said, “This happened to me because I didn’t understand that I shouldn’t report on the Internet.” Rascatripas was the moderator for a web site that denounced Nuevo Laredo’s organized crime.

This follows the September killing of another blogger and journalist from Nuevo Laredo, María Elizabeth Macías Castro, who was found dead and decapitated on September 24, 2011. Her killers also left a note with her body. The message was similar to that left beside Rascatripas, but was signed with a “Z,” the signature of the Zetas drugs gang.

These killings form part of a worrying trend in Mexico, where drugs gangs are increasingly targeting the Internet, forcing bloggers and chat rooms to exercise self-censorship or face being shut down or killed.

Mexico is one of the most dangerous places in the world in which to practice journalism. PEN recently launched its 2011 Day of the Dead campaign, highlighting the violence suffered by print journalists and writers in Mexico and protesting the climate of impunity that exists there.



PLEASE SEND APPEALS...

• Calling on the Mexican authorities to carry out a thorough investigation into the latest murder;

• Calling for an end to Mexico’s climate of impunity in which attacks such as these take place;

• Calling on the government of President Felipe Calderón to fulfill promises to make crimes against journalists a federal offense by amending the Constitution so that federal authorities have the power to investigate, prosecute, and punish such crimes.

SEND APPEALS TO...
President
Lic. Felipe De Jesús Calderón Hinojosa
Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Residencia Oficial de los Pinos Casa Miguel Alemán
Col. San Miguel Chapultepec, C.P. 11850 DISTRITO FEDERAL, México
Fax: (+ 52 55) 5093 4901/ 5277 2376
Email: felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx
Salutation: Señor Presidente/Dear Mr President

Attorney General
Lic. Marisela Morales Ibáñez
Procuradora General de la República
Av. Paseo de Reforma No. 211-213, Piso 16
Col. Cuauhtémoc, Defegacion Cuauhtémoc
México D.F. C.P. 06500
Tel: + 52 55 5346 0108
Fax: + 52 55 53 46 0908 (if a voice answers, ask "tono de fax, por favor")
E-mail: ofproc@pgr.gob.mx
Salutation: Señora Procuradora General/Dear Attorney General

Special Prosecutor for Crimes against Freedom of Expression
Dr Gustavo Salas Chávez
Fiscal Especial para la Atención de Delitos Cometidos contra la Libertad de Expresión (FEADLE)
Email: gustavo.salas@pgr.gob.mx, feadle@pgr.gob.mx


Please copy appeals to the diplomatic representative for Mexico in your country if possible.

Please send appeals immediately. Contact PEN if sending appeals after December 30, 2011: ftw@pen.org