EFE agency photographer Aldair Mejía after being hit by a projectile fired by the police in Juliaca in January 2023.Luis Javier Maguiña ((EPA) EFE)
This Sunday, January 7, it will be a year since the photographer Aldair Mejía of the EFE agency received a bullet in his right shin, which kept him away from journalistic reporting for several months. Mejía was in the southern Juliaca region to cover protests against Dina Boluarte's government and was attacked by police. The next day, reporter Max Lanza of Radio La Decana had a confrontation with an agent who told him: “And then they ask: Why are you shooting me?” They are still victimizing themselves.” On January 9, hours After both incidents, eighteen protesters were killed and more than a hundred injured by projectiles from shotguns, pistols and AKM rifles in the same region.
In February, the Joint Command of the Peruvian Armed Forces threatened reporter Ernesto Cabral of the digital media La Encerrona for requesting information under the transparency law about the deaths of protesters in Ayacucho, Apurímac and Junín. “Our institutional image is being damaged,” they asked. In March, journalist Liubomir Fernández, correspondent for the newspaper La República in Puno, reported that he was harassed by police forces for reporting that the deaths of six army soldiers who drowned in the Ilave River were due to the negligence of superiors who gave the order and did not the Aymara people.
These are just some of the 352 attacks suffered by Peruvian journalists in 2023, included in the annual report of the Journalists' Human Rights Office (OFIP) of the National Association of Journalists of Peru (ANP). This is the largest number of complaints against press freedom so far this century. There were 303 cases in 2022, 239 episodes in 2020 and 212 cases were recorded in 2007.
Commenting on this growing trend that threatens press freedom, ANP President Zuliana Lainez says: “For the second year in a row, there have been more than 300 attacks on journalists.” A very vivid representation of what it means to do journalism in Peru . There remains a feeling of coordination of actions. A start to the year with critical episodes of social protests in which reporters, photojournalists and cameramen were targeted. In situations of blatant human rights violations, we definitely do not want evidence that would allow us to assign blame. The law enforcement authorities acted on the spot and the executive branch contributed with a proposed protocol for reporting in situations of public order disturbance, which was nothing more than (another) attempt to parameterize journalistic activities.”
For the second year in a row, threats and harassment were the types of attacks that most threatened the work of men and women in the press, with 138 cases reported. This is followed by physical and verbal aggression with 127 episodes and then obstructions to access to information and journalistic reporting with 25 episodes. In addition, there were 14 cases of intimidating speech, 10 cases of judicial intimidation, and nine work-related incidents, including harassment and dismissal.
Who are the main perpetrators of these attacks? According to the report, 136 searches involved civilians and 106 cases involved security forces. The most affected were the digital media (162), then the television press (93), then the radio press (56) and finally the print press (41). In terms of gender, 206 attacks were reported against men, 83 against women and 63 against media outlets.
Renzo Chávez, general secretary of the ANP, calls for protection for the union and highlights the work of those who carry out the trade in the regions. “Reality shows that the journalist who is on the streets or doing research is at greater risk of being attacked. The problem is that a precarious job like journalism only increases vulnerability. We need protection to reduce risks. Looking at the setting outside of Lima, we will portray Vallejo's poetry. Abandonment, greater insecurity, repeated abuse and much more. The real heroes of journalism are located in the regions rather than in the capital,” he emphasizes. 208 attacks were registered in Lima. In Trujillo (La Libertad) there were 19, in Tacna eleven were reported and in San Román (Juliaca) there were ten.