World Press Freedom Day (3 May): focus on Latin America
3 May 2009
PEN and authors from across Americas condemn violence against journalists in Latin America and call for end to impunity around murders and disappearances in Mexico
To mark World Press Freedom Day 2009, the Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN releases the ‘Declaration in Defense of the Freedom to Write in the Americas’, endorsed by over 50 authors throughout the region. The Declaration condemns the persistent attacks on against writers and print journalists in Latin America - particularly Mexico, where in the last five years alone 20 journalists have died and four others disappeared - and calls for an end to the impunity surrounding these cases. PEN urges its members and others to publicize the Declaration and to send as many appeals as possible to the Mexican President now and throughout the year, using the postcard provided.
More than 50 writers from across the Americas have signed the 'Declaration in Defense of the Freedom to Write in the Americas', including Paul Auster, Ernesto Cardenal, Lydia Cacho, Noam Chomsky, Junot Diaz, Ariel Dorfman, Franciso Goldman, Raúl Rivero and Derek Walcott. Click here to see the text of the Declaration and the list of signatures.
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
1. Publicity
PEN Centres and other interested parties are also asked to use World Press Freedom Day on 3 May as an opportunity to publicize the following in their national and local press:
‘Declaration in Defense of the Freedom to Write in the Americas'
Highlight PEN's ‘Declaration in Defense of the Freedom to Write in the Americas’ and its endorsement by more than 50 authors from across the Americas, some of whom have themselves been persecuted for their writing such as Lydia Cacho, Maria Elena Cruz Varela and Raúl Rivero. (For profiles of Cacho and Cruz Varela, click here.)
You may also choose to gather more signatures from writers in your country, via your membership and wider networks, as well as via your presence at public events such as book fairs.
Violence against journalists in Mexico
Highlight unsolved journalist murders and disappearances in Mexico, as described in the postcard below. For more information on the situation for writers in Mexico, including case summaries and photos, click here.
2. Appeals
PEN members and other interested parties are asked to print and send as many copies of this postcard as possible to mark World Press Freedom Day on 3 May and throughout 2009. The postcard is available in Spanish and English
Alternatively, please send appeals by fax or email to Lic. Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, President of Mexico, via your nearest diplomatic representative of Mexico (for a list of some Mexican embassies, see: http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/mexico1.html).
You may wish to use the following text as a guide:
Your Excellency, Señor Felipe Calderón Hinojosa,
I am writing to express my deep concern at the situation for writers in Mexico, one of the most dangerous countries in the world to work as a journalist. From 2004 to 2008, 20 writers - 19 print journalists and one author - were murdered, while four more journalists disappeared. Few if any of these crimes have been punished.
International PEN believes that these journalists were likely targeted in retaliation for their critical reporting, particularly on drug trafficking. While organised crime groups are responsible for many attacks, state agents, especially government officials and the police, are reportedly the main perpetrators of violence against journalists, and complicit in its continuance.
According to the UN, unsolved killings of and attacks against journalists in Mexico are contributing to a climate of impunity that restricts freedom of expression. I therefore ask you to ensure that a full, prompt and impartial investigation is carried out into all unsolved murders and disappearances of writers and journalists, and that the culprits are brought to justice.
Yours respectfully,
NAME AND PEN CENTRE/ ORGANISATION
For further information please contact WiPC Americas researcher Tamsin Mitchell at International PEN Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel.+ 44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, email: tamsin.mitchell@internationalpen.org.uk