The SRFOE condemns the murder of journalist Roberto Carlos Figueroa and broadcaster Martín Antonio Olivier Rodríguez in Mexico and calls on the judicial authorities to conduct a diligent and thorough investigation.

May 10, 2024

Washington D.C. - The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (SRFOE) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemns the murder of journalist Roberto Carlos Figueroa Bustos, which occurred on April 26, in the state of Morelos; and of broadcaster Martín Antonio Olivier Rodríguez, which occurred on May 7, in the state of Puebla. This Office calls on the judicial authorities to investigate diligently and exhaustively to find those responsible and prevent these crimes from going unpunished.

According to public information, journalist Roberto Carlos Figueroa Bustos was kidnapped on the morning of Friday, April 26. Although his relatives paid the ransom demanded by his kidnappers, the journalist was found dead inside a vehicle in the town of Coajomulco, in the municipality of Huitzilac, in the state of Morelos. According to information gathered by this Office, Figueroa was the host of the program Acá el Show, in which he broadcast information of public interest and local political content.

In this regard, the Government of the State of Morelos condemned the events and called on the authorities of the State Attorney General's Office (FGE) to carry out the corresponding investigations to find those responsible. He also announced that the Commission for Attention to Victims would provide support to Figueroa's relatives. For his part, the prosecutor of Morelos, Uriel Carmona Gándara, indicated that the investigations suggest that the kidnapping and murder of the journalist could be directly related to his journalistic activity.

The Special Rapporteurship takes note of the timely public condemnation of the crime by the Morelos authorities and emphasizes the need to thoroughly explore the line of investigation related to Figueroa's journalistic work.

The Special Rapporteurship also learned of the murder of radio broadcaster Martín Antonio Olivier Rodríguez, in Ajalpan, state of Puebla. According to publicly available information, Olivier Rodríguez was reported missing by his relatives on the night of Monday, May 6, and his body was found on Tuesday, May 7, abandoned in a cab and with signs of violence. According to public reports, Rodriguez was an announcer for the radio station La que más suena.

With the murder of journalist Roberto Carlos Figueroa and broadcaster Martín Antonio Olivier Rodríguez, two more crimes against journalists and communicators have been registered by this Office in Mexico during 2024. In its annual report 2023, the SRFOE expressed its concern about the persistent lethal violence against journalists and communicators in Mexico, which recorded one of the highest murder rates in the region during the year 2023.

This Office recalls that the murder of journalists is the most extreme form of censorship, and violates the right to freedom of expression in both its individual and collective dimension, as it generates a chilling and silencing effect on their peers, and also affects the right of individuals and societies to seek and receive information and ideas of any kind. In accordance with Principle 9 of the Declaration of Principles on 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 condemns the crime against journalist Roberto Carlos Figueroa and broadcaster Martín Antonio Olivier Rodríguez, and calls on the competent Mexican authorities to conduct a diligent, exhaustive, effective and impartial investigation in order to clarify the facts, find those responsible, and prevent these crimes from going unpunished. This presupposes the identification and exhaustion of all possible criminal hypotheses linking the murders to the professional practice of the victims.

The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression is an office created by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to encourage the hemispheric defense of the right to freedom of thought and expression, considering its fundamental role in the consolidation and development of the democratic system.

No. R096/24

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