(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is an IAPA press release: IAPA Urges Guatemalan President to Intervene in Kidnapping of Four Journalists Miami (October 27, 2003) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today urged the President of Guatemala to work for the release of four journalists held hostage by former members of paramilitary forces, to protest […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is an IAPA press release:
IAPA Urges Guatemalan President to Intervene in Kidnapping of Four Journalists
Miami (October 27, 2003) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today urged the President of Guatemala to work for the release of four journalists held hostage by former members of paramilitary forces, to protest the fact that they have not received compensation from the government.
On 26 October, reporters Fredy López, Alberto Ramírez, Emerson Díaz and Mario Linares, were driving to the town of La Libertad, in Huehuetenango province, 325 kilometers west of the capital, when they were intercepted by former members of the Civil Defense Patrols (PACs). The group is demanding that the government compensate them for their services during the 30-year civil war that ended in 1996.
The journalists were there to cover the presidential campaign of Efraín Ríos Montt, candidate of the Guatemalan Republican Front party.
The IAPA sent a letter to Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo stating its concern over the safety of the journalists, who have been beaten and remain tied up, and urged the leader to press for their release, investigate the kidnapping, and bring those responsible to justice.
Below is the text of the letter signed by IAPA President Jack Fuller, from Tribune Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, and by the Chairman of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Rafael Molina, from Ahora magazine, Santo Domingo, Dominican Repubilic.
“Mr. President,
On behalf of more than 1,300 publications in the Western Hemisphere, we condemn the serious attack against freedom of the press in your country with the kidnapping of four journalists who were taken hostage by former members of the Civil Self Defense Patrols in the province of Huehuetenango.
As you know, journalists Fredy López, Alberto Ramírez, Emerson Díaz, and Mario Linares, from Prensa Libre newspaper, remain held by their captives and are known to have been physically assaulted. We fear that if there is no immediate mediation, matters could get worse.
Mr. President, given the urgency of this serious matter, we urge you to take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of these journalists and protect the free exercise and free movement of the press. This type of act should be promptly investigated and punished severely, as stipulated in the Declaration of Chapultepec that seeks to protect press freedom and democracy.”
