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FOUR JOURNALISTS KILLED IN A WEEK

It has been a grisly week for journalists around the world, a week in which IFEX members reported four killed in Brazil, Guatemala, Nepal and Russia.

In Guatemala, Hector Ramírez died of a heart attack on 24 July following riots in the capital, report Journalists Against Corruption (Periodistas frente a la corrupción, PFC), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). CPJ says it is awaiting autopsy results to determine whether Ramírez died as a result of being chased through the streets or from a beating by supporters of presidential hopeful Efraín Ríos Montt, a former dictator.

Ramírez, 61, worked for Canal 7 TV and Radio Sonora. He was one of several journalists attacked during riots sparked by Ríos Montt supporters, CPJ says. Those attacked included Juan Carlos Torres, a photographer with the daily "el Periódico," Hector Estrada, a cameraman with Guatevisión television station, and Edgar Valle of Canal 7, report CPJ and PFC. I

n other incidents, Donald González, a local radio station journalist, saw his motorcycle destroyed and a photographer for "Siglo XXI" newspaper was badly beaten by demonstrators who tried to steal his equipment, notes PFC.

Sources told CPJ that the rioting came in response to a Supreme Court decision on 20 July temporarily barring the general from running for president in the November elections. Ríos Montt's bid for the presidency has attracted criticism from Human Rights Watch, which says the gross human rights violations committed while he was in power in 1982 make him "unfit" to serve as president.

Ríos Montt ruled Guatemala for 18 months 1982 to 1983 after leading a successful coup. During his dictatorship, the Guatemalan military carried out a "scorched earth" campaign of hundreds of massacres, tens of thousands of extrajudicial executions, and - according to a U.N.-sponsored truth commission - "acts of genocide," says Human Rights Watch.

Opponents of his presidential bid also argue that the 1985 Constitution forbids anyone who participates in a military coup from becoming president.

In Brazil, freelance photographer Luiz Antônio Costafor was shot and killed on 23 July while reporting for "Época" on the occupation of Volkswagen-owned land by homeless people, say Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

According to the daily newspaper "A Folha de São Paulo," a witness said a gunman attempted to steal Costa's camera and shot him when he resisted. Costa died en route to hospital. Police are investigating whether the gunman was one of the homeless movement's security guards or just a criminal, says RSF.

In Nepal, the Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES) reports that Amar Lama, managing editor of the weekly newspaper "Tajakhabar", was killed on 27 July by four unidentified gunmen. The incident occurred in Naya Bazar, near Kathmandu. Lama was a member of the Nepali Congress Party (NC) and ran the Jaya Nepal Cultural Academy, an affiliated organisation.

Finally, in Russia, RSF, IFJ and the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) called attention to the murder of journalist Alikhan Gulyev. On 18 July, Gulyev was shot in the back while entering his apartment in Moscow, reports RSF. A freelance reporter for the newspaper "Kommersant" and TV Tsenter, Gulyev had covered the Chechnya conflict since 2002.

In March last year, unidentified gunmen fired at his car after he filed a complaint against Interior Minister Khamsat Gutseryev for violating an electoral law, RSF notes. The Supreme Court subsequently disqualified Gutseryev from the election on the grounds that he did not resign as minister before running.


Visit these websites for more information on:


- Guatemala:
http://www.cpj.org/news/2003/Guatemala24july03na.html
http://www.hrw.org/americas/guatemala.php
- Brazil: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=7627

- Nepal: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/52613/

- Russia: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=7603