(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC of International PEN is deeply concerned at the death threat received by Hugo Gonzales Henostroza and calls on the Peruvian authorities to safeguard the journalist’s life. According to information received by International PEN, Gonzales received a phone call on 11 April 2002. The anonymous caller threatened Gonzales and told him to […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC of International PEN is deeply concerned at the death threat received by Hugo Gonzales Henostroza and calls on the Peruvian authorities to safeguard the journalist’s life.
According to information received by International PEN, Gonzales received a phone call on 11 April 2002. The anonymous caller threatened Gonzales and told him to leave the area as fellow
journalist Marco Villafuerte Montoya had done. The caller stated, “Stop talking about environmental contamination and the Atupa case,” before hanging up.
Gonzales Henostroza, the Huaraz correspondent for the daily newspaper “Liberacion”, has stated that the threat comes in response to his reporting on chemical pollution in the town of Atupa. On 10 March, he published an interview with two people from Atupa, one of whom has cyanide poisoning, allegedly from environmental pollution caused by work carried out by the mining company Minera Barrick Misquichilca. On 1 April, Gonzales Henostroza wrote another piece, this time focusing on alleged moves by the company to have local cases of cyanide poisoning hushed up. Two days later, the journalist published a further article in which the governor of Atupa accused the members of a commission investigating the poisonings of being traitors after they issued a report clearing Minera Barrick Misquichilca of all responsibility.
Gonzales Henostroza and Villafuerte Montoya, the director of the fortnightly “Millennium”, received a series of death threats in September and October 2001 after reporting on the
Atupa case. During a 24 October telephone call, an unidentified individual stated, “Take care. Don’t mess with the Barrick Misquichilca Gold Corporation mining company. We’ll teach you a lesson.”
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
– urging them to launch an exhaustive and transparent investigation as a matter of urgency so that those responsible for the threats might be brought to justice
– calling for the protection of Gonzales Henostroza so that he might be able to continue his work as a journalist, and for the protection of his family
Appeals To
Dr. Alejandro Toledo Manrique
President of the Republic
Presidente de la República
Palacio de Gobierno
Plaza de Armas s/n
Lima 1, Peru
Fax: +51 1 427 6722 / 426 6535
Fernando Olivera Vega
Justice Minister
Lima, Peru
Fax: +51 1 422 3577
Dr. Walter Albán Peralta
Ombudsman
Lima, Peru
Fax: +51 1 426 6657
Fernando Rospigliosi Capurro
Interior Minister
Lima, Peru
Fax: +51 1 224 2405
Heriberto Benítez Rivas
President of the Human Rights Commission of the Peruvian Congress
Lima, Peru
Fax: +51 14 262 134
E-mail: hbenitez@congreso.gob.pe
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
