Who is Killing Honduran Journalists?

[Agony]

"Just as unprecedented is the degree of impunity, says Vicki Gass, senior associate at the Washington Office on Latin America. Under Honduras' dysfunctional judicial system, only a tiny fraction of its thousands of homicides each year are ever solved. Gass adds that if military figures were involved in the killing of journalists like Palacios, "they may well have been feeling emboldened" by the fact that the army effectively got away with last year's coup. The U.S., which at first condemned the putsch, eventually decided to recognize the results of last November's presidential election to help Honduras move on.
(See photos: "Violence Erupts During Honduras Protests")

___That's why Lobo's response to the journalist murders — or lack of one — matters in Washington as well as Tegucigalpa. If he and his ministers, without credible investigation, simply dismiss the possibility that the killings are a form of media intimidation, it could cast doubts not just on their commitment to healing Honduras' divide, but on the Obama Administration's decision to back them. ___(emphasis mine)

Press advocates are hoping that this week's establishment of an independent, Lobo-backed Truth & Reconciliation Commission to examine the coup will move the government to take the journalist homicides more seriously."




http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1989503,00.html

[Wilms]

1. Thanks for posting this.

And Time impressed me.

[Downwinder]

2. A wolf with no direction, a government with no compass

http://www.quotha.net/node/940

[Judi Lynn]

3. Really looking forward to what this commission will offer the world.

Their report is going to be very solemn if they actually discuss the threats, beatings, assassinations which not only the coup government's military, police have used against the public, but Lobo's government as well.

~~~~~
UN human rights experts urge Honduran authorities to protect journalists

10 May 2010 – A group of United Nations human rights experts today urged the Honduran Government to take immediate action to end violence against journalists in the Central American country where, they said, seven media professionals have been killed during the past six weeks, and several others have been threatened.
“We urge the Government to take all necessary measures to thoroughly investigate these killings and threats, prosecute those responsible, and ensure the physical and psychological integrity of all journalists under threat,” the independent experts said in a statement issued in Geneva.

“In particular, we call upon the Government to establish an independent inquiry aimed at shedding light on these issues, as well as at identifying measures that could be taken to better protect journalists and prevent the occurrence of such acts in the future,” they added.

Journalists José Bayardo Mairena Ramírez, Manuel Juárez, Nahun Palacios Arteaga, David Meza Motesinos, Joseph Hernández Ochoa, Luis Antonio Chévez Hernández and Jorge Orellana were killed recently “while exercising their legitimate right to freedom of opinion and expression,” the UN Special Rapporteurs said.

They said several journalists continued to receive death threats, despite precautionary measures ordered by the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights to protect journalists in Honduras.

More:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34641&Cr=honduras&Cr1=

[protocol rv]

4. Sounds bad

So did the crime rate go up when Zelaya was president? Anybody have murder statistics for his presidency?