(PROBIDAD/IFEX) – On 9 March 2006, “Co Latino” newspaper journalist Rosa Elvia Campos was assaulted in the town of Mejicanos by a supporter of the Revolutionary Democratic Front (Frente Democrático Revolucionario, FDR) political party, who hit her with a blunt object wounding her on her left brow. Campos was seeking comments from Carlos Menéndez, who […]
(PROBIDAD/IFEX) – On 9 March 2006, “Co Latino” newspaper journalist Rosa Elvia Campos was assaulted in the town of Mejicanos by a supporter of the Revolutionary Democratic Front (Frente Democrático Revolucionario, FDR) political party, who hit her with a blunt object wounding her on her left brow.
Campos was seeking comments from Carlos Menéndez, who is currently the city mayor and an FDR member running for re-election, regarding an alleged act of aggression by members of the Farabundo Martí Liberation Front (Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, FMLN) political party hours earlier at the headquarters of the Democratic Change (Cambio Democrático, CD) – FDR coalition, located in Mejicanos.
However, Menéndez rebuffed Campos, informed her that he would not comment on the case, and requested party supporters who were accompanying him to similarly refrain from comment, accusing the journalist and her newspaper of being linked to the FMLN. Campos was immediately surrounded by the FDR supporters present, one of whom struck her with a blunt object.
PROBIDAD condemns this act of aggression, and reaffirms that everyone has the right to physical and psychological safety. As important as the rights to freedom of thought and expression is the right to seek, receive and distribute information and ideas; rights that are enshrined in the American Convention on Human Rights, in its Articles 5 and 13 respectively.
PROBIDAD, therefore, calls upon the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to take the appropriate actions to punish this act and others of its kind, which constitute a threat to freedom of expression and democracy in El Salvador.
