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Alert

IAPA calls for action in case of journalist's murder

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 21 March 2005 IAPA press release:

IAPA CALLS FOR ACTION IN MURDER OF BRAZILIAN JOURNALIST

MIAMI, Florida (March, 21, 2004) - The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) called on newspaper and magazine readers in the Western Hemisphere to add their signatures to a letter sent to Brazilian President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva requesting his help to solve the July 1995 murder of journalist Nivanildo Barbosa Lima.

At the time of his death, Barbosa, 27, wrote for the newspaper Ponto do Encontro, in Paulo Afonso, northern Bahia, denouncing the actions of local death squads. His body was found floating in a reservoir on July 22, 1995, two days after he went missing. An investigation into his death was halted but reopened when new evidence emerged. Police investigations have stalled. It is feared the case will be shelved once again and that his death will remain an unsolved mystery.

The IAPA is waging a hemisphere-wide campaign, titled "Let Us Put an End to Impunity," calling for those responsible for the murders of 280 journalists in the last 17 years to be punished. Advertisements are being published in 273 newspapers and magazines throughout the Americas, inviting readers to join the campaign by adding their signatures to a petition posted on the Web site http://www.impunidad.com

The IAPA's hemisphere-wide campaign against impunity, which is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, also includes investigative reporting programs, training for reporters working in hazardous environments, and the monitoring of the state of press freedom in the Americas.