2008 SPECIAL RAPPORTEURSHIP FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES 1889 F St. N.W. WASHINGTON, D. C. 20006 www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/ [email protected] Design: Atico Publicidad www.aticopub.com OAS Cataloging-in-Publication Data Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Estudio especial sobre la situación de las investigaciones respecto a los periodistas asesinados en la región durante el período 1995-2005 / [por la Relatoría Especial para la Libertad de Expresión]. p. ; cm. (OEA Documentos Oficiales; OEA Ser.L) (OAS Official Records Series; OEA Ser.L) ISBN 978-0-8270-5196-6 1. Freedom of the press. 2. Freedom of expression. 3. Freedom of information. I. Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. II. Title. III. Series. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.131 Approved by the Commission during its 131° regular session index Foreword 9 Introduction 11 Chapter I 19 States’ Obligation to Investigate Human Rights Violations and Combat Impunity A. The Duty to Investigate: A Positive Obligation of the States under the Inter-American System for the Protection of Human Rights 21 B. Principles of Seriousness and Effectiveness and the Standard of Due Diligence 24 C. The Obligation to Investigate Violations of the Right to Life 29 D. The Duty to Investigate the Violation of the Right to Life of Journalists and Members of the Media as a Guarantee of Freedom of Expression 34 E. Noncompliance with the Duty to Investigate and the Question of Impunity. Implications of Impunity 36 Chapter II 39 Status of Investigations into the Murder of Journalists in the Region for Reasons that May Be Related to their Work in Journalism (1995-2005 Period) A. Reporters and Members of the Media Killed in the Region from 1995-2005 for Reasons that May Be Related to the Exercise of Journalism 42 B. The Status of the Investigations 45 1. Duration of the Investigations 46 2. Identification of Perpetrators and Motives 50 3. Course of the Investigations: Evidence Gathering and Logical Lines of Investigation: Obstacles and Obstructions 51 4. Convictions 53 5. Picture of Impunity 57 6. Progress in the Investigations 58 Chapter III 61 Conclusions and Recommendations A. Conclusions 63 B. Recommendations 64 Table 67 The Office of the Rapporteur recorded, in the 1995-2005 period, the murder of 157 reporters and members of the media in 19 countries of the region, for reasons that could be related to their work in journalism Special Study on Murder of Journalists Foreword The murder of journalists and members of the media is the most violent way to violate the right to freedom of expression. It not only nullifies the victim’s right to life; it also infringes on the right of the victim’s family to mental and moral wholeness, and deprives society of a source of opinion and information. The lack of adequate investigations, and the impunity that results when journalists are murdered because of their work, can create conditions that make it easier for other reporters to be killed and can foster self-censorship, which restricts freedom of expression. The States have the obligation to investigate these murders effectively, determine their causes, and punish those responsible. The failure to comply with this obligation, and the resulting impunity, generate an international responsibility on the part of the States, both in the case of crimes committed by agents of the State and those committed by private individuals. This Special Study on the Status of Investigations into the Murder of Journalists in the 1995-2000 Period for Reasons that May Be Related to their Work in Journalism seeks to analyze the situation surrounding the violent deaths of reporters and other members of the media throughout the region. The picture this report reveals is not encouraging. Journalists continue to be killed in the Americas—and the vast majority of those murders go unpunished. This study is intended to serve as a wake-up call to increase awareness about this extremely serious problem. While many of these murders may be attributed to organized crime, with no direct involvement from State agents either as perpetrators or masterminds, the States have an international obligation to investigate and punish these cases through their courts and other competent entities. Impunity is the responsibility of the States. It is essential that progress be made in these investigations, that those who carry out and plan these crimes be determined, and that those responsible be punished. That is the message a democratic society expects and should receive when its sources of information are silenced in this way and the public’s right to freedom of expression is thus limited. The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression hopes that the States can take this study into account when the time comes to modify and strengthen their practices in the area of judicial investigations into murders of journalists, and to create a climate that guarantees the safety of members of the media who have been threatened as a result of their work in journalism. I would like to express my gratitude to the staff of the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression who helped to bring this project to fruition. In particular, I would like to thank Dr. Daniel Cerqueira and Dr. Tatiana Rincón Covelli, a consultant to the Office of the Rapporteur. Ignacio J. Álvarez Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression March 2008 9 Special Study on Murder of Journalists 10 Special Study on Murder of Journalists Introduction 1. The murder of journalists and members of the media for reasons related to their work in journalism constitutes the most serious violation of the right to freedom of expression. The killing of a journalist does not just gravely violate that person’s right to life; it also radically suppresses his or her right to free expression and infringes on the right of societies and their citizens to seek and receive all types of information and ideas. The violation of the social and collective dimension of the right to freedom of expression is made even more serious by the self- censorship that results among other members of the media when a journalist is murdered in the line of duty. Impunity in the case of such crimes exacerbates this self-censorship and also constitutes a serious violation of the right to freedom of expression in its individual and collective dimensions. 2. Since its first annual report in 1998, the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (hereafter, “Office of the Rapporteur”) has followed with particular attention and concern the situation regarding the violation of the right to life of journalists in the countries of the region—in particular, those cases in which they have been victims of murder—and the status "The killing of a journalist of the investigations into these crimes. … radically suppresses 3. In 1998, the Office of the Rapporteur stated expressly his or her right to free that “[t]he murder of journalists is an extremely grave threat expression and infringes to the exercise of freedom of expression and the most direct on the right of societies way of attacking this fundamental right.”1 It went on to state: “The Special Rapporteur has received information to the effect and their citizens to seek that most cases of murder and threats against journalists have and receive all types of gone unpunished and are not investigated by law enforcement information and ideas." agencies with the efficacy, determination and dedication that they deserve. It should be recalled that every State has the duty to effectively investigate the facts whenever journalists are murdered or threatened, and to punish those responsible.”2 4. The Office of the Rapporteur continues to view the murder of journalists as its primary concern, due principally to 1 1998 Annual Report, Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. Chapter III, “Evaluation of the Freedom of Expression in the Hemisphere,” PDF version, p. 24, at: http:// www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/showarticle.asp?artID=630&lID=1 2 Ibid, p. 25. 11 Special Study on Murder of Journalists the value of the human life that is violated and to the effect of intimidation that it sows among journalists in particular and among society at large.3 5. In its daily monitoring of the state of freedom of expression in the region, the Office of the Rapporteur has verified that there have been periods characterized by a serious deterioration of this right and a greater vulnerability of journalists. These periods have seen an increase in threats and physical violence, expressed most brutally in the murder of journalists and members of the media.4 6. During several such periods, the deterioration of this situation has been due to particularly critical conditions in some countries. For example, in 1998 and then from 2000 to 2003, the situation in Colombia was especially alarming. In 1998, 10 journalists were killed in that country; in 2000, 9 journalists were murdered; in 2001, another 10 journalists were killed; in 2002, 14 were killed; and in 2003, once again 9 journalists were murdered. Similarly, between June 2004 and June 2005, the situation was especially critical in Mexico, where 7 journalists were killed, beginning with the murder of journalist Francisco Javier Ortiz Franco, cofounder and editorial writer for the weekly magazine Zeta.5 In 2006, the Office of the Rapporteur registered a particularly alarming period from October 1 to December 31, in which 6 journalists were killed in Mexico