(AMARC/IFEX) – AMARC again expresses its deep concern over threats issued against community radio stations in Mexico. The most recent target is the staff of the community radio station La Voladora Radio, located in Amecameca de Juárez, in the state of Mexico. Journalists with the station received various threats, to their lives and welfare, in […]
(AMARC/IFEX) – AMARC again expresses its deep concern over threats issued against community radio stations in Mexico. The most recent target is the staff of the community radio station La Voladora Radio, located in Amecameca de Juárez, in the state of Mexico.
Journalists with the station received various threats, to their lives and welfare, in e-mail messages dated 30 August 2006. The threats were linked to their journalistic work with the station.
On 1 September, at 4:00 a.m. (local time), one of the station employees found his car vandalised, its windows shattered by rocks. The employee filed a complaint with the Amecameca Public Prosecutor’s Office.
On 6 September, station staff received another death threat by e-mail. Again, on the night of 7 September, employees received another threat that was all the more concerning because it stated that action would soon be taken.
La Voladora Radio is a community radio station that, after a long struggle, managed to obtain a licence from the secretary of communications and transport, allowing it to broadcast and thereby exercise the right to freedom of expression and access to information. The station has received much recognition from its listeners for the important public service it provides the community, which makes it all the more imperative that intransigent groups not be allowed to attack the station, and that authorities take appropriate action to prevent such violations from occurring.
On 1 September, the threatened employees registered a complaint with the local Public Prosecutor’s Office; the corresponding federal office would not accept the complaint as it did not consider the threats to constitute a crime. Thus far, no action has been taken to safeguard the people under threat.
These threats violate judicial guarantees set out in the Constitution and in international agreements, including the right to freedom of expression as enshrined in articles 6 and 7 of the Mexican Constitution, as well as in article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights and article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Mexico is signatory.
It is worth noting that, in 2005 and thus far in 2006, Mexico is one of the countries with the highest number of journalist killings, making the threats against the employees of La Voladora Radio all the more worrisome, and the need for a thorough investigation, leading to the identification and punishment of the perpetrators, all the more urgent.
In light of this situation, AMARC makes the following requests:
1. That local authorities take measures to protect the journalists and to ensure such threats are not repeated, and that they investigate and take appropriate action with expedience and impartiality.
2. That the federal authorities take every reasonable and adequate action to ensure the safety of the employees of La Voladora Radio.
3. That the National Human Rights Commission (la Comisión Nacional de Los Derechos Humanos, CNDH) mobilise its resources and take all the necessary precautionary measures to protect these journalists from harm.
