Mexico calls for protection after attack on newspaper
Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on August 27, 2009 at 8:09 AM
Gunmen sprayed the offices of newspaper El Siglo de Torreón with bullets from assault rifles last week, the most recent attack against media in Mexico. Following the violence, the head of the country's National Human Rights commission called for more action against violence perpetrated against media, and gave recommendations on how to better handle the violence to state governments, federal prosecutors and army officials, The Associated Press reported.
Fifty-two journalists and workers in the media industry have been killed in Mexico in the last 10 years, and authorities in the country have been "negligent in investigating and prosecuting the attacks," said Jose Luis Soberanes, the commission's president.
Fifty-two journalists and workers in the media industry have been killed in Mexico in the last 10 years, and authorities in the country have been "negligent in investigating and prosecuting the attacks," said Jose Luis Soberanes, the commission's president.
Meanwhile, seven other reporters have gone missing and six newspaper offices have come under fire from explosives in the last decade, he said.
Most violence is drug-related, and has killed more than 11,000 people in Mexico since the end of 2006, according to the AP. Of media-related deaths, in May El Siglo de Torreón crime reporter Eliseo Barron was killed, likely by a group of hit men connected with the Gulf cartel, the Zetas.
La Jornada reported last week that El Siglo de Torreón has avoided covering organised crime as deeply as in the past, and newspaper officials said they did not know what motivated the most recent attack, which took place in the middle of a dispute between rival groups of narcotics traffickers that control the region. There were no reported injuries.
Most violence is drug-related, and has killed more than 11,000 people in Mexico since the end of 2006, according to the AP. Of media-related deaths, in May El Siglo de Torreón crime reporter Eliseo Barron was killed, likely by a group of hit men connected with the Gulf cartel, the Zetas.
La Jornada reported last week that El Siglo de Torreón has avoided covering organised crime as deeply as in the past, and newspaper officials said they did not know what motivated the most recent attack, which took place in the middle of a dispute between rival groups of narcotics traffickers that control the region. There were no reported injuries.
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