SRFOE condemns the murder of journalist Salomón Ordóñez Miranda in Mexico and calls on the authorities to clarify the facts

July 11, 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 Salomón Ordóñez Miranda, which occurred in Puebla, Mexico. It also urges the Mexican authorities to carry out diligent, timely and effective investigations in order to identify and punish those responsible for the crime.

According to public information, on June 23, 2025, journalist and photographer Salomón Ordóñez Miranda was murdered in the municipality of Cuetzalan del Progreso, in the state of Puebla, by unknown assailants who shot him on at least two occasions. According to available reports, the emergency services took more than an hour to arrive, during which time the journalist remained seriously wounded. The victim died while receiving medical attention at a health center.

Ordoñez Miranda was the administrator of the digital media "Shalom Cuetzalan Producciones" on the social network Facebook, where he covered community and security issues.

For its part, the Government of Puebla issued a statement in which it regretted the death of the journalist and said that the State Attorney General's Office, in coordination with municipal authorities, is conducting the corresponding investigations.

Throughout the year, the Office has also documented the murders of journalists Calletano de Jesús Guerrero, Alejandro Gallegos León, Kristian Uriel Martínez Zavala, Martín Ruelas Esparza, Raúl Irán Villarreal Belmont, José Carlos González Herrera and Avisack Douglas. The State has informed the Special Rapporteur that some of these cases are under investigation, and that it has not been determined that all of them are directly related to the journalistic work of the victims.

The SRFOE recalls that violence against journalists constitutes the most extreme form of censorship and compromises the rights to life, personal integrity, and freedom of thought and expression. In accordance with Principle 9 of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression of the IACHR, it is the duty of States to prevent and investigate these acts, punish those responsible and guarantee adequate reparation to the victims.

Impunity for these crimes not only encourages their repetition, but also undermines the confidence of victims' families in state institutions and contributes to self-censorship among press workers. The IACHR and its Office of the Special Rapporteur have stated that the lack of due diligence in the investigation, pursuit and punishment of all those responsible can result in an additional violation to the rights to access to justice and judicial guarantees of those affected and their family members.

For all of the above, the SRFOE urges the Mexican authorities to seriously, promptly, effectively and with due diligence investigate the murder of journalist Salomón Ordóñez Miranda, as well as the other crimes committed against journalists and press workers in Mexico, considering as a possible motive the informative work of the victims. It also urges them to identify, prosecute, and punish those responsible for these acts. The Office of the Special Rapporteur expresses its solidarity with the families of murdered journalists.

The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (SRFOE) 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. R139/25

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