Regional overview

Protecting the right to freedom of expression in the Americas, particularly Latin America (used here to denote all countries south of the United States), is a key concern for the Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC).

In the five years from January 2004 to December 2008, 37 writers and print journalists were murdered in Latin America and four more were disappeared. In many cases it is clear that these writers were targeted for their writing. In others, their criticism of the authorities or criminal gangs gives rise to concerns that their deaths were related to their work. In very few cases have the culprits been brought to justice. In the same period, many more writers were jailed, threatened with death, physically attacked and otherwise persecuted.

WiPC figures for 2008 show a total of 191 attacks against writers and journalists recorded in the Americas, all but 7 in Latin America. Key cases* included:

• 7 killings (all in Mexico)
• 4 disappearances (1 new case and 3 unsolved from previous periods - all in Mexico)
• 30 imprisonments (25 long-term imprisonments in Cuba and 5 new cases - 1 in Ecuador, 2 in Mexico, 1 in the USA and 1 in Venezuela).
• 44 physical attacks
• 35 death threats and 35 other types of threat or harassment
• 14 writers on trial, mainly for alleged criminal defamation or terrorism (Peru, Venezuela and Colombia, with Peru accounting for more than half of the cases).

AMERICAS 2008

The highest volume of attacks and severity of persecution in 2008 was seen in Mexico, Cuba, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela.

*International PEN and its WiPC focus on writers, including print journalists, editors and publishers as well as authors. The WiPC's figures do not therefore include attacks on broadcast journalists; for information on this group, see the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX)

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