The SRFOE condemns the murder of journalist Raúl Célis López in Peru and calls on the authorities to continue investigating crimes against the press

May 22, 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 journalist Raúl Celis López in Peru, and urges the authorities to carry out a thorough, impartial and diligent investigation that considers his journalistic work as a line of investigation and a possible motive for the crime, as well as to identify and punish all those responsible.

According to public information, on May 7, 2025, journalist Raúl Celis López, of Radio Karibeña, was murdered by unknown subjects on a motorcycle, who shot him three times while he was in a vehicle on his way to record his radio program in the district of Iquitos, Maynas province, Loreto department. According to reports from civil society organizations, Celis López was widely known for his denunciations of alleged irregularities in the regional government, as well as for his coverage of corruption, extortion and organized crime in the Amazon region, and for making visible the impact of these problems on local communities.

The State informed the Rapporteurship about the initiation of a preliminary investigation by the Fifth Corporate Provincial Criminal Prosecutor's Office of Maynas, which ordered the intervention of agents of the Criminal Investigation Department (Depincri) of Iquitos to collect statements from witnesses and family members, obtain recordings from security cameras, review the contents of the victim's cell phone and carry out other necessary procedures to clarify the facts. It also indicated that the Coordination of the Regional Bureau for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders of Loreto will continue with the investigations, with the objective of clarifying what happened and, if necessary, activate protection measures in the framework of the Intersectoral Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, for the benefit of the relatives of Raúl Célis López. On the other hand, this Office became aware of the actions taken by the Ministry of the Interior, which reported on the activation of a plan to locate and capture those responsible for the crime.

The Rapporteurship warns that this crime is in addition to the murder of journalist Gastón Medina, director of Cadena Sur TV, which occurred on January 20 of this year in front of his home, in the city of Ica. In relation to this case, the SRFOE takes note of the progress in the investigation, highlighting that on May 16, 2025, the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of the Interior reported the preliminary arrest of an alleged perpetrator of the crime, following a raid led by the Supraprovincial Criminal Prosecutor's Office Specialized in Human Rights and Interculturality of Ica and Cañete, with the support of the National Police of Peru.

Faced with these facts, the SRFOE recalls that the murders of journalists constitute the most extreme form of censorship, and violate the right to freedom of expression in both its individual and collective dimension. These crimes not only violate the right of the victims to express and disseminate their ideas, opinions and information, but also violate the right of individuals and societies to seek and receive information and ideas of any kind. In addition, they generate an intimidating and self-censoring effect among media professionals.

Furthermore, impunity - understood by the Inter-American Court as the failure to investigate, prosecute, capture, try and convict - encourages the chronic repetition of human rights violations and has a strong inhibiting effect on the exercise of freedom of expression. This chilling effect can only be avoided, according to the Commission, "by swift action on the part of the State to punish all perpetrators, as is its duty under international and domestic law".

In accordance with Principle 9 of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression of the IACHR, "[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".

Therefore, the SRFOE urges the Peruvian authorities to continue the investigations into the murders of journalists Gastón Medina and Raúl Celis López in a thorough, diligent and impartial manner, considering their journalistic work as a possible motive for the crime, and to identify and punish all those responsible.

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. R109/25

8:25 AM