Journalists' murders in Honduras draw criticism from rights advocates

[Judi Lynn]

Journalists' murders in Honduras draw criticism from rights advocates

12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, April 25, 2010
Anne-Marie O'Connor, The Washington Post

Honduran television reporter Jorge Alberto "Georgino" Orellana had just left the station where he hosted his own show when a man stepped from the shadows, shot him dead and vanished.

On Tuesday, Orellana became the seventh Honduran broadcaster to be gunned down since March 1 in a country where complaints about human rights abuses have increased since a military-led coup in June.

Most of the victims had reported on organized crime in the northern coastal region of Honduras, a key transshipment point for U.S.-bound cocaine.

Reporters Without Borders recently declared Honduras "the world's deadliest country for the media."

"This is unprecedented," said Carlos Laurma of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. "Journalists are being targeted, and the state is almost absent. It's a green light for these people."

Laurma said the killings appeared to be "the work of hit men, very professional."

José Miguel Vivanco of Human Rights Watch said the government of President Porfirio Lobo has shown little willingness to solve a pattern of threats, harassment and attacks on grass-roots leaders, unionists and priests since the coup.

More:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/stories/DN-honduras_25int.ART.State.Edition1.4d3d100.html

[Wilms]

1. Journalists' Murders in Honduras Draw Unrecs From Rightwing Trolls

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:grr: