O U R  A M E R I C A

Havana.  May 17, 2012

According to the UNESCO director, last year was the worst in a decade for silencing journalists, with 127 murders from 2010-2011, 18 of them in Mexico.

Since the occupation of Iraq, various international institutions have warned of a notable increase in the number of correspondents murdered, far in excess of those killed during the longest and bloodiest invasions, wars of extermination or military conflicts such as that of Vietnam.

The years 2008-2009 saw a new development in terms of motives, form and region, with an increase in the murders of these professionals for reporting on issues unrelated to military conflict.

Publicly exposing the trafficking of humans, drugs or arms; protests against budget cuts or the rise in university tuition; unemployment; wage reductions; job losses; as well as the indignation of the indignados at financial agreements enriching a few while the majority are impoverished; all of these have become one of the most dangerous activities in the world for media professionals.

But we cannot ignore the currently existing contrast that while journalists in a certain nations are working in the sights of snipers, in others they are making themselves the accomplices of major interests by disseminating false reports, or exaggerating and manipulating information with the clear intention of supporting wars of conquest in countries possessing abundant natural resources, above all energy resources, or which are located in key position in terms of world geography.

According to experts, Latin America has experienced the largest number of journalist fatalities in the past two years, ahead of the Middle East region.

Reports of kidnapped journalists found dumped in plastic bags and bearing marks of torture before being killed, because they have exposed or investigated drug-related issues are frequent.

In March 2010, a report was presented to the 27th meeting of the International Program for the Development of Communication (IPDC) for the period 2008-09. During this period, UNESCO condemned the murder of 123 journalists, a figure similar to that of 2006-07. The report noted that at least 80% of the deaths were the result of direct personal attacks, and that the majority of them were not international war correspondents, but national reporters covering news in their own countries, mostly in peacetime.

Other sources indicate that in Latin America in 2011, 95% of journalists killed were men, there is a large body of evidence that women are more and more being subjected to threats, particularly in the form of sexual abuse, while in the last few weeks of this year three of them were evidently executed by organized crime.

A report from the Commission of Inquiry into Violations of Journalists states that in 2011, of the 103 journalists who died as a result of violence throughout the world, 40 (42%) were Latin Americans.

It adds that in 2010, 40 reporters were murdered in six countries, which subsequently increased to 13 nations. According to the Commission, almost all of the victims were covering cases of corruption and other illegal activities.

It concludes that Latin America was the most dangerous region for journalists, particularly in Brazil, Honduras and Mexico, confirming a pattern of ever-increasing violence against media professionals.

The report points to the extremely urgent need to reconsider measures for their protection, initially proposed in the 1970s.

Last September, Mexican commentator Salvador Camarena observed, "The gag of terror imposed by crime cartels in Mexican coastal regions has succeeded in silencing newspapers, radio and television stations, and is also reaching websites and social networks."

But, as stated at the beginning of this article, this is not only about narcotics operations and wars of pillage, but the obstacles imposed on those who inform, investigate or denounce.

The more fortunate journalists might get away with a serious beating and the confiscation of their material when they report on protest demonstrations or peaceful marches, as has occurred in certain European countries, Chile and even New York, the mecca of freedom of expression. Last October, the Chilean Foreign Correspondents Association expressed to the government its "profound concern over continuous attacks on freedom of expression perpetrated by the police in the last two years." One month later, according to an Associated Press cable, journalists covering the police operation in the Occupy Wall Street camp were kept at a distance from the area and a number of them were arrested.

Some governments are unwilling to adopt measures for the protection of journalists, as if the right of citizens to be informed and the responsibility for doing so falls exclusively to them. There is an urgent need to halt these murders, as 2012 is threatening to be even more deadly for these professionals.