Hondurans urged to rebuild rule of law, media pluralism, after elections
Hondurans urged to rebuild rule of law, media pluralism, after elections
Published on Friday 22 November 2013.
Reporters Without Borders calls for justice for journalists who have been persecuted or killed and an overhaul of the entire Honduran media after the parliamentary elections that are due to be held on 24 November.
Represented by an observer on the ground, Reporters Without Borders hopes that key issues that are important to the population, such as agrarian reform, environmental conflicts, a purge of the police and obviously human rights, will be the vehicles of a new pluralism and the restoration of the rule of law, which has been sacrificed since the June 2009 coup d’état.
Impunity and ignored appeals
A total of 27 journalists have been murdered since the coup and, in ten of these cases, a direct connection has been established between the murder and the victim’s work. There have been shooting attacks and two more murders in 2013, of which one, that of Globo TV programme head Aníbal Barrow, was particularly barbaric.
These murders have taken place against a backdrop of generalized political violence in which many human rights defenders, labour leaders, civil society representatives, lawyers and activists have also been victims. The run-up to this election has only exacerbated the situation and increased the polarization.
The protection of journalists and other news providers and the fight against impunity need to be addressed during the next parliamentary period. Reporters Without Borders has repeatedly stressed this need but its appeals have been ignored.
More:
http://en.rsf.org/honduras-hondurans-urged-to-rebuild-rule-of-22-11-2013,45503.html