16 August 2006
VETERAN REPORTER MURDERED
Mexican authorities are investigating the death of Enrique Perea Quintanilla on 9 August 2006 in the city of Chihuahua to determine whether he was killed for his work as a journalist, report the Institute for Press and Society (Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, IPYS), the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Perea's body was found on the outskirts of the city with bullet wounds in the head and back and signs of torture, according to IPYS and IAPA. As the editor of the monthly magazine "Dos Caras, Una Verdad" ("Two Sides, One Truth"), Perea reported on local drug trafficking and on unsolved murder cases. Prior to that, Perea worked for 20 years as a police reporter for the daily newspapers "El Heraldo" and "El Diario".
In the July issue of "Dos Caras, Una Verdad", Perea, 50, published an interview with an unnamed local drug lord who described his illegal trafficking operations, according to CPJ. RSF says Perea had reported being harassed by the local government because of his recent reports about corruption in the Chihuahua state government and the large number of unsolved crimes.
The state prosecutor's office believes the murder is the work of organised crime. If Perea's murder is found to be related to his work as a reporter, the federal office of the special prosecutor for crimes against the press will take up the case.
Ten journalists have been killed in Mexico in the past two years, according to RSF, most of them in the northern region bordering the United States where powerful drug cartels operate. No one has been arrested or tried for ordering any of these murders.
Two other reporters remain missing. Alfredo Jiménez Mota of the Hermosillo daily "El Imparcial" has been missing since 2 April 2005, and is feared dead. Rafael Ortiz Martínez, reporter for the Monclova-based daily "Zócalo" and host of the local morning news programme "Radio Zócalo", has been missing since 8 July 2006.
Visit these links:
- IPYS: http://www.ipys.org/alertas/atentado.php?id=834
- IAPA: http://www.sipiapa.org/espanol/pressreleases/chronologicaldetail.cfm?PressReleaseID=1723
- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/americas/mexico10aug06na.html
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=18552
- Ni Uno Más Campaign: http://www.cepet.org/libex/
- The Alfredo Jiménez Mota Case: http://www.impunidad.com/toplevel/fenixEn.htm
- The Rafael Ortiz Martínez Case: http://www.impunidad.com/cases/rafaelortizS.htm
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