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Alert

National human rights commission criticises flawed investigation into journalist's murder

(CENCOS/IFEX) - More than a year after the 9 November 2006 disappearance of "Despertar de la Costa" newspaper owner-editor Misael Tamayo Hernández, whose body was found the day after he went missing from Zihuatanejo, in Guerrero state, the National Human Rights Commission (Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos, CNDH) has directed a formal recommendation to the governor of Guerrero state, Zeferino Torreblanca, regarding flaws and irregularities in the investigation by the state prosecutor's office into the journalist's murder.

The recommendation indicates that the investigators did not seek out sufficient testimonies from witnesses, did not look into telephone calls made to or by the journalist, overlooked information from the autopsy, and failed to track down personal effects of the journalist that had gone missing - including credit cards that were used after his death without prompting any inquiries.

The recommendation stems from a complaint filed on 16 November 2006 by two of the journalist's relatives, Ruth and Rebeca Tamayo Hernández.

The CNDH also acknowledged that there had been an unreasonable delay in the administration of justice in the case, considering that, a year later, not all the required steps in the investigative process had taken place.

CENCOS urges the governor to heed the commission's recommendation, and congratulates the CNDH for acting on the important issue of murders and assaults against journalists. On the other hand, CENCOS urges that attention be paid to various other outstanding cases involving the violation of journalists' rights in Mexico.