1 November 2006
JOURNALIST KILLED, PHOTOGRAPHER WOUNDED IN OAXACA CLASHES
A U.S. journalist has been killed and a Mexican photographer wounded in the state of Oaxaca while covering clashes between protesters and paramilitary groups linked to the ruling provincial PRI party, report the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontieres, RSF) and the Inter American Press Association (IAPA).
Bradley Will, an independent documentary filmmaker and reporter for the news website Indymedia, was shot on 27 October in the city of Santa Lucía del Camino.
Will was among several journalists, including photographer Oswaldo Ramírez, who were fired upon by armed men believed to be paramilitaries linked to the PRI party. Ramírez, who works for the Mexico City-based newspaper "Milenio", was shot in the leg.
Will had been covering the latest developments of a conflict that erupted in May when a teachers' strike led to mass protests by members of the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO). The protesters accused Oaxaca's governor of corruption and demanded his resignation.
Since May, they had been occupying the city square and several radio stations until heavily armed federal police moved in to break up the protests on 30 October. Will had been in Oaxaca for at least six weeks, interviewing witnesses and activists, and shooting footage of protests for a documentary on the conflict, reported CPJ.
Four public officials, including two policemen, and a former official have been detained in connection with Will's killing.
Visit these links:
- IFJ: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=4340&Language=EN
- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19485
- IAPA: http://www.sipiapa.org/
- Inter-Press Service: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35302
- APPO: http://www.asambleapopulardeoaxaca.com/
(Photo: Bradley Will)
RSS