Mexico is the most dangerous country in the Western Hemisphere for journalists, as CPJ has extensively documented since 1992. According to CPJ research, at least 153 journalists and other media workers have been killed since the beginning of this century, and It was discovered that at least 64 of these deaths were directly linked to the work of the dead.
Impunity is the norm for crimes against members of the press. According to CPJ's annual Impunity Index, Mexico consistently ranks among the top 10 countries in terms of unsolved murders of journalists. CPJ also concluded that although Mexico is the country with the largest number of “missing” journalists, none of these cases in Mexico have ever resulted in a conviction.
In addition to murders and disappearances, journalists in Mexico face constant threats, harassment and physical and psychological abuse from employees and members of organized crime gangs. Most of the threats and attacks are related to the country's ongoing battle against violent criminal groups, militarization as part of the so-called “war on drugs,” and the failure of law enforcement to protect journalists and the public amid allegations of corruption. . The protection institution itself found that almost half of the attacks on journalists it recorded in Mexico were perpetrated by authorities.
Inadequate safeguards
The Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists was created by the Mexican government in 2012, after years of pressure from journalists and civil society organizations to address the constant threats and attacks against human rights defenders and media workers.
Over the past 18 months, Amnesty International and CPJ have investigated the mechanism. To do so, they analyzed a wide range of publicly available information about the institution, as well as documents obtained through requests under the Freedom of Information Law to the Mexican Institute for Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data. Amnesty International and CPJ also carried out on-site research in the states of Oaxaca, Quintana Roo and Tlaxcala and distributed a questionnaire to 28 journalists registered with the Protection Mechanism.
The mechanism is, in fact, responsible for assessing the risks faced by journalists, providing them with protective measures and coordinating with state and national authorities to mitigate risks. In reality, however, the mechanism only offers some journalists much-needed protection, while many others are not adequately protected.
In November 2023, 651 journalists were registered with the mechanism, including 469 men and 182 women. However, the number of protection requests rejected by the mechanism has risen sharply in recent years, from just one in 2020 to 14 in 2021, 49 in 2022 and a further 49 in the first eleven months of 2023.
Almost all journalists Amnesty International and CPJ contacted said they continued to face security threats after joining the mechanism; Many described the mechanism's response as slow, bureaucratic and lacking empathy. Many journalists also had the impression that Mechanism officials wanted to take as little risk as possible on their part and also did not take their gender into account.
Symptomatic cases
Amnesty International and CPJ described three symptomatic cases of reporters included in the mechanism: Gustavo Sánchez Cabrera, Rubén Pat Cauich and Alberto Amaro Jordán. Gustavo Sánchez Cabrera and Rubén Pat Cauich were killed while under the protection of the mechanism, and their stories are a painful reminder of the consequences of inadequate protection by government authority. The case of Alberto Amaro Jordán, who asked the Mechanism not to lift its protection measures after they were no longer considered necessary, reveals the journalists' struggle with bureaucracy, the Mechanism's failure to adequately assess risks, and that the shocking shock from authorities' lack of interest in taking threats against reporters seriously.
“When you call the mechanism, sometimes it feels like they are ignoring you. They think they are lying”, says Alberto Amaro Jordán. “I pointed out that the risk assessment has a series of errors. They ignored me and decided to remove my bodyguards.”
“Our investigation shows that the murders of journalists like Gustavo Sánchez Cabrera and Rubén Pat Cauich could have been prevented if authorities had taken faster and more decisive measures to protect them. “Mexican authorities must do everything in their power to protect the press and guarantee the rights to life and freedom of expression of journalists,” said Edit Olivares Ferreto, deputy executive director of Amnesty International in Mexico.
recommendations
The investigation paints an alarming picture of a deeply flawed institution that requires fundamental reform to meet the needs of journalists in one of the countries in the world where the press suffers the highest rates of violence. Of particular concern are the apparent lack of basic knowledge about human rights issues among Authority staff, significant failures of the mechanism to adequately assess the risks faced by journalists or to take gender issues into account, and poor communication with people protected. The investigation also shows that there is a growing tendency on the part of the mechanism to deny, reduce or remove protection measures for journalists, despite the fact that they continue to face clear and present risks.
Amnesty International and CPJ call on the Mexican authorities to ensure adequate funding for the mechanism and to adequately train staff, review their risk assessment processes and incorporate a gender perspective into their protocols to better respond to specific needs of women journalists.
Amnesty and CPJ also call for much closer cooperation between the Mechanism and Mexican investigative authorities at state and national levels to address impunity and the causes of threats and attacks against journalists.
The Mexican government must take immediate action to correct the mechanism's problems. This is particularly urgent as Mexico heads into a new electoral cycle that could have consequences for how the country deals with serious violations of human rights and fundamental rights such as press freedom.
This investigation was carried out with the participation of independent journalists Primavera Téllez Girón, Luis Miguel Carriedo, Juan Pablo Villalobos Díaz and Cecilia Suárez.
Cover photo: Vigil for journalists killed in Mexico.
Freedom of expression and freedom of the press
More about this