Posted: 08 Jun 2011 10:00 AM PDT
Some 66 Mexican journalists have been killed in a little more than five years, many if not most for exercising their professions. Just last week, authorities found the body of Noel López Olguín, a journalist in Veracruz state who went missing in March. His body was found in a shallow grave.
This is an abysmal record and reflects on the weakness of Mexico’s state that the killers of unarmed journalists are rarely captured and punished.
In that light, here’s a noteworthy excerpt from a talk given yesterday in Vilnius, Lithuania, by the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. His name is Thomas O. Melia, and he made the remarks at a conference on journalists' safety in the OSCE Region, which comprises 56 countries, primarily in Europe.
The remarks are likely aimed at threats against journalists in Russia. But it gives rise to whether the U.S. government will lean harder on Mexico. The Calderon administration has set up a special prosecutor for crimes against journalists _ nice window dressing for the outside world _ but has allowed the occupant of the post to get away with doing little. Here’s what Melia said:
This is an abysmal record and reflects on the weakness of Mexico’s state that the killers of unarmed journalists are rarely captured and punished.
In that light, here’s a noteworthy excerpt from a talk given yesterday in Vilnius, Lithuania, by the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. His name is Thomas O. Melia, and he made the remarks at a conference on journalists' safety in the OSCE Region, which comprises 56 countries, primarily in Europe.
The remarks are likely aimed at threats against journalists in Russia. But it gives rise to whether the U.S. government will lean harder on Mexico. The Calderon administration has set up a special prosecutor for crimes against journalists _ nice window dressing for the outside world _ but has allowed the occupant of the post to get away with doing little. Here’s what Melia said:
"We have a responsibility to investigate and prosecute violence against journalists, whether the suspected perpetrators are to be found inside or outside of government. Debates may rage in this room about when it is necessary or whether it can ever be appropriate to restrict speech, but none of us have laws on our books that make murder of, or violence, against citizens – including journalists – acceptable. When cases of violence against journalists languish, when justice is denied for the killing or beating of a journalist just because authorities do not like what he or she says, the rule of law that is necessary for modern societies to function successfully is undermined. Impunity must end."
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