(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 7 July 2004 IAPA press release: IAPA satisfied with recognition by Guatemala of its responsibility in murder of journalist IAPA highlights that this establishes an important international precedent in the fight to solve other cases of unpunished crimes against journalists in the region Miami (July 7, 2004) – The […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 7 July 2004 IAPA press release:
IAPA satisfied with recognition by Guatemala of its responsibility in murder of journalist
IAPA highlights that this establishes an important international precedent in the fight to solve other cases of unpunished crimes against journalists in the region
Miami (July 7, 2004) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) expressed its satisfaction with the decision of Guatemalan President Oscar Berger and his administration in admitting to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights Guatemala’s responsibility in the murder of journalist and politician Jorge Carpio Nicolle, who was killed in 1993.
Alberto Ibargüen, chairman of the IAPA’s Committee Against Impunity, said “this decision shows respect for human rights and freedom of expression for the people of Guatemala, and particularly for Carpio’s relatives who have brought this case to the international authorities, with continuous support from IAPA.”
Carpio Nicolle, editor of El Gráfico newspaper, was murdered on July 3, 1993 when he was traveling with a delegation on a pre-election campaign in the interior of Guatemala, with ambitions of becoming president of his country.
Ibargüen, publisher of The Miami Herald Publishing Company, added “for us, the gesture of the Government of Guatemala is doubly satisfying since the case of Carpio Nicolle, as well as the disappearance of journalist Irma Flaquer, for which the government also accepted responsibility in 2000, are two of the six investigations originally conducted by the IAPA at the beginning of the Unpunished Crimes Against Journalists Project in 1994.”
Ibargüen stressed, “the example of Guatemala represents a valuable precedent in the fight for justice in cases of other still unpunished crimes against journalists and an example to be adopted by other governments in the region.” He also said that the IAPA is reviewing, along with Mexican state and federal officials, the cases of journalists Héctor Félix Miranda and Víctor Manuel Oropeza, murdered in 1988 and 1991, respectively.