Freedom of Expression
Press Release R 1/15
PRESS RELEASE
R 1/15
OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL
RAPPORTEUR EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER DISAPPEARANCE OF JOURNALIST IN THE STATE OF VERACRUZ,
MEXICO
Washington D.C., January 6, 2015. – The Office of the
Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights (IACHR) expresses its concern over the disappearance of
journalist José Moisés Sánchez Cerezo, which reportedly took place on the
evening of January 2 in Medellin de Bravo, in the State of Veracruz. According
to the information available, on January 5, the authorities reportedly arrested
three local policemen as suspect in the disappearance of the journalist. Likewise, the State informed the Office of
the Special Rapporteur that the federal authorities have taken steps regarding
this issue.
The Office of the Special Rapporteur takes note of these information and calls on the Mexican State to adopt all the necessary measures to find the journalist alive. In its investigations, the State should not dismiss the hypothesis that the disappearance could be related to the exercise of the journalist’s work.
According to the information received, Sánchez is founder and reporter for the local weekly La Union, a publication distributed for free, through which the journalist denounced corruption of local authorities and the security situation of the area. Due to lack of funds to publish the weekly, he used social media to report about local issues, especially those related to the security of the community.
The journalist is reportedly
also a taxi driver and manages an
informal business to financially support the weekly. According to his family,
Sánchez was allegedly threatened days before an armed group of people traveling
in three vehicles burst into his house to take him. In the kidnapping, the work
material of the journalist, his computer and camera were taken.
Violence against journalists in Mexico – especially in
the State of Veracruz – has been of particular concern to this Office. The
Special Rapporteur urges the authorities to thoroughly investigate the
hypothesis that this crime could have been associated with the exercise of the
victim’s right to freedom of expression or his human rights defense work.
Similarly, the Office of the Special Rapporteur considers it essential to
urgently assess whether the mechanisms of change in jurisdiction should be
activated so that this case could be investigated and prosecuted immediately by
federal authorities. This Office also considers it fundamental to consolidate
the Mechanism to Protect Human Rights Defenders and Journalists [Mecanismo
de Protección para Personas Defensoras de Derechos Humanos y Periodistas],
and to strengthen the interagency coordination mechanisms between federal
authorities and the various levels of government to ensure the proper adoption
and implementation of protection measures.
Principle 9 of the IACHR Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression states:
"[t]he murder, kidnapping, intimidation of and/or threats to social
communicators, as well as the material destruction of communications media
violate the fundamental rights of individuals and strongly restrict freedom of
expression. It is the duty of the state to prevent and investigate such
occurrences, to punish their perpetrators and to ensure that victims receive
due compensation."
The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression was created by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to encourage the defense of the right to freedom of thought and expression in the hemisphere, given the fundamental role this right plays in consolidating and developing the democratic system.