SRFOE condemns the murder of two journalists in Mexico and calls on the State to strengthen prevention and protection measures for the press.

January 29, 2025

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 journalists Calletano de Jesús Guerrero and Alejandro Gallegos León, as well as the kidnapping of journalist Alan García Zúñiga in Mexico. The Office calls on the authorities to carry out exhaustive, diligent and impartial investigations, and to reinforce prevention and protection measures for the press.

According to public information, on January 17, 2025, Calletano de Jesús Guerrero, journalist and deputy director of Global México, was murdered in the municipality of Teoloyucan, State of Mexico, after being shot by unknown assailants.

The journalist was included in the Protection Mechanism in May 2014, after reporting threats and attacks. Since then, protection measures were activated for him, his family and the collaborators of Global México, who also reported threats related to their journalistic work. Before his murder, the Protection Mechanism recorded an incident of probable risk at the journalist's home on November 24, 2024, as well as the theft of his vehicle on December 14, 2024. According to public reports, on January 13, 2025, four days before his murder, Calletano de Jesús Guerrero reported having received death threats, which led to the activation of corresponding protection measures. After the murder, the State informed the Rapporteur's Office that the Mechanism's staff established communication with the family; they traveled to the scene of the crime and provided support in the process of expanding the complaint to the Attorney General's Office of the State of Mexico.

Likewise, the Special Rapporteur received reports about the discovery of the body of journalist Alejandro Gallegos León on January 25, 2025, in the municipality of Cárdenas, Tabasco. According to the information available, his disappearance was reported by his relatives on January 24, which led the Tabasco State Attorney General's Office to immediately issue an alert and search warrant as part of the ministerial proceedings. Gallegos León was the founder of the news portal La Voz del Pueblo, a columnist for the newspaper Tabasco Hoy, and a teacher at the Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco University (UJAT) and at the Alfa y Omega educational institution. The State informed the Special Rapporteur that the Protection Mechanism will ask the Attorney General's Office to take over the case in order to get to the truth and bring about justice, and that it has strengthened the channels of communication with the Government of Tabasco to assess the granting of protection measures to the relatives.

Added to this are reports of the kidnapping of the journalist Alan García Zúñiga, which took place on January 22, 2025, in Poza Rica, Veracruz, when he was captured by armed men. According to public reports, the journalist is a beneficiary of the Protection Mechanism and collaborates with the Resistencia Veracruzana website, where he addresses public security issues. According to what the State has reported to this Office, since the case became known, the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists has been in communication with the beneficiary's family in order to provide them with the necessary information.

The Special Rapporteur takes note of the coordination between the federal authorities and the Secretariat of the Government of Veracruz, as well as with the State Commission for the Attention and Protection of Journalists, to coordinate the corresponding actions and guarantee the protection of the journalist's family. In addition, the State reported that, in recent days, a face-to-face working group meeting has been held in Xalapa for this purpose and that the Federal Mechanism is keeping a close eye on the progress of the investigations by the Veracruz State Attorney General's Office.

The Office of the Rapporteur recalls that, in accordance with Principle 9 of the IACHR Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression, “the murder, kidnapping, intimidation of and/or threats to social communicators, as well as the destruction of media facilities, 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 those responsible and to ensure that the victims receive adequate compensation.

The Office emphasizes that the murder of journalists is the most extreme form of censorship and cannot be tolerated in democratic societies. Furthermore, it recalls that acts of violence against journalists have a triple effect: they violate the right of victims to express and disseminate their ideas, opinions and information; they have a silencing and intimidating effect on their peers; and they violate the rights of individuals and societies in general to seek and receive information and ideas of all kinds. The consequences for democracy, which depends on a free, open and dynamic exchange of ideas and information, are particularly serious.

The SRFOE takes note of the information provided by the State and urges the authorities to continue the investigations into the murder of the journalists Calletano de Jesús Guerrero and Alejandro Gallegos León, as well as the kidnapping of Alan García Zúñiga, ensuring that they are exhaustive, diligent and impartial, with the aim of identifying and punishing those responsible. In addition, it calls on the authorities to strongly condemn the attacks against the press.

Finally, the SRFOE, taking into account that Calletano de Jesús Guerrero and Alan García Zúñiga are beneficiaries of the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, underlines the need for an in-depth reflection on the effectiveness and functioning of the measures implemented. Consequently, this Office reiterates its (i) call to the Mexican State to strengthen prevention and protection measures for journalists, providing them with the maximum guarantees so that they can carry out their work in a safe and free environment; and (ii) willingness to engage in dialogue with the authorities and learn about the actions implemented or in progress, with the aim of contributing to the strengthening of the Protection Mechanism.

The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression is an office created by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) with the aim of stimulating 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. R028/25

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