(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 25 January 2005 IAPA press release: IAPA recalls unpunished murder of journalist MIAMI, Florida (January 25, 2005) – As part of its hemisphere-wide campaign to raise awareness of the need to bring those who murder journalists to justice, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has asked Dominican Republic President […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 25 January 2005 IAPA press release:
IAPA recalls unpunished murder of journalist
MIAMI, Florida (January 25, 2005) – As part of its hemisphere-wide campaign to raise awareness of the need to bring those who murder journalists to justice, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has asked Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernández to intervene in order to speed up the investigation into the kidnapping and disappearance of journalist Narciso González “Narcisazo”.
The journalist was abducted by military personnel in Santo Domingo on May 26, 1994, after accusing the government of committing electoral fraud in the presidential elections. His arrest was not officially acknowledged, despite the testimony of eyewitnesses. An appeals court disallowed the testimony and evidence against those allegedly involved in the journalist’s disappearance and presumed death. The legal proceedings have been stalled for years.
Through advertisements in some 270 publications throughout the Western Hemisphere, the IAPA has been inviting readers to go to the Web site http://www.impunidad.com and join the campaign titled, “Let Us Put an End to Impunity”, which addresses the murders of news men and women over the past 15 years.
The IAPA campaign is being carried out through the Association’s Committee Against Impunity and is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. It includes investigative reporting programs, training for reporters working in danger zones and the monitoring of the state of press freedom in the Americas.
