Press freedom is facing rising challenges across the world. In Mexico, the perils of reporting have reached new heights.
Powerful entities ranging from government officials to law enforcement, to drug cartel leaders routinely and systematically intimidate journalists and media outlets to prevent them from investigating state corruption and drug-related violence. Efforts to silence media often take place in the shadows, forcing victims to choose between self-censorship, forced displacement, or risking their lives for doing their jobs.
Still, some reporters and citizen journalists continue to cover conflict zones in different regions of the country. According to a report published by the Human Rights Program of Universidad Iberoamericana, more than a thousand mass graves with 2,014 bodies have been found a number that is higher than official governmental figures. Shootings between armed groups leave appallingly high death counts. In just the first four months of 2017, Mexico broke its previous murder record with 7,727 cases, 392 more (5.3%) than in 2011, previously the most violent year on record, according to the Executive Secretary of Public National Safety.
1. Salvador Adama Is the Seventh Journalist Murdered in Mexico in 2017
2. No to Silence’: Javier Valdez’s Murder Highlights Persistent Perils for Mexican Journalists
Journalist Javier Valdez, editor, and reporter of the local media outlet Ríodoce, was assassinated on May 15, 2017. Valdez, who was considered a leading expert on drug trafficking in Mexico, became the sixth journalist killed in Mexico since the start of 2017.
Valdez knew the risks of his work in Mexico, but he never gave up. Neither do many of his colleagues:
Let them kill us all if that is the death sentence for reporting this hell. No to silence. Javier Valdez
You can’t kill the truth by murdering journalists. Photo by Article 19 on Flickr. Used under Altar to honor murdered journalists. Photo by Article 19. Used under CC BY-NC 2.0 license.Anabel Flores, Ricardo Monlui, Cecilio Pineda, Miroslava Breach, Javier Valdez, Salvador Adame and tens more assassinated journalists are testimony that the gravest of threats often materialize. Reporters are executed in their homes, on their way to work, frequently in broad daylight and with little consequence for the attackers. According to Article 19, 107 journalists (including Salvador Adame) have been murdered in the country since 2000. No wonder Mexico has been labeled one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.
While some journalists continue to work under these conditions, assassinations and the fear they’ve inspired have left a black hole of information in the country, driving some journalists to avoid covering dangerous topics and diminishing the publics ability to obtain information on government corruption, corporate abuses, gang violence and human rights violations.
Corruption and impunity have reached every branch of the Mexican government, making it difficult to distinguish between organized crime and government officials. In this scenario, it becomes unclear who should be in charge of protecting journalists and ensuring their safety.
1. Mexico’s Drug War Makes Everyone a Target
2. The Media’s Role in Mexico’s Warped Democracy
3. Mexico: We Are the Problem Because We Disturb the Government and the Narcos
Meanwhile, since the beginning of his term, President Peña Nieto has tried to position Mexico as a top choice for financial investment and as a leading example of democracy and freedom in the Americas. He insists that his government is committed to protecting the press. Yet on multiple occasions, when a corruption scandal becomes public, the president and his staff deny or ignore corruption allegations while those who expose such deeds are tagged as liars, prosecuted, or dismissed from their jobs.
When uncomfortable news of the so-called war on drugs find their way to the mainstream media mostly thanks to the effort of local journalists they are threatened by both the government and organized crime. A statement delivered by Article 19 at the 35th Session of the UN Human Rights Council reads:
We regret that the government refuses to publicly acknowledge, let alone condemn, that attacks on journalists are committed by or at the behest of public officials. This includes where journalists are under the protection of the Federal mechanism. The government places full blame for attacks on organized criminals, yet ARTICLE 19 identified connections to public officials in 53% of attacks recorded in 2016.
Altar in honor of Mexican murdered journalists. Photo by Article 19 on Flickr. Used under CC BY-NC 2.0 license.
An Attorney General Who Doesn’t Work
The Mexican State has an office dedicated exclusively in theory to seeking justice in crimes committed against those who practice journalism or others who exercise the right to free expression within the bounds of the law.
The Special Prosecutors Office for Crimes against the Freedom of Expression (FEADLE) operates under the attorney general of Mexico (PGR).
FEADLE, however, is one more branch of the country’s vast bureaucratic framework, which absorbs substantial public resources while delivering little in return. In 2017, the assigned budget was approximately USD 1 million, while in 2016 they received USD 1.4 million.
1. #LeyTelecom: Mexican Supreme Court Ratifies Geolocation and Retention of Metadata
2. Mexico’s Cybercrime Bill is Dead. But What Will Lawmakers Think of Next
Of the seven homicides committed against journalists so far this year, not a single person has been arrested. The Mexican independent website Animal Político reported:
1. Translation
In just over six years from July 2010 to December 31, 2016 there were 798 reports of attacks on journalists.
Well, out of these 798 complaints, of which 47 were for murder, FEADLE reported in response to a request for transparency that it only has three convictions registered: one in 2012; and another two in 2016. Or in other words 99.7% of attacks have not led to a criminal conviction.
No public servant has ever accounted for the lack of justice on this matter. No inquiries have been launched to determine the cause of the attorney general’s office colossal failure to bring the killers before a judge.
On the magazine cover: Journalism under President Calderón, a deadly trade. Picture by Article 19 on Flickr. Used under CC BY-NC 2.0 license.
Espionage
Journalists not only face a lack of protection, they are also under heavy surveillance by the Mexican government. Recent reports prove that the government has systematically used spyware to spy on activists, lawyers, and journalists without judicial review, which is illegal in Mexico.
These tools that are intended to be used against crime, are being wielded against citizens to prevent them from seeking the truth and exposing corruption. Article 19 also referred to this issue in its statement at the UN Human Rights Council:
Of the 426 attacks on the press we documented last year, 72 were online, with women journalists and bloggers disproportionately affected. Surveillance is also an issue: many organizations have left the Alliance for Open Government (OGP) over accusations of sophisticated spyware being deployed against critical human rights organizations and journalists.
1. How the Mexican Government Puts Citizens Under Systematic Surveillance
2. Mexico’s Attorney General Secretly Purchased Costly Spyware (Again)
3. Mexico Was Hacking Team’s No.1 Client for Spyware
Mexico has become a prime destination for the surveillance technology industry in the Americas. Trade fairs are held annually and relationships between manufacturers, distributors and the Mexican government have intensified rapidly throughout the term of Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto. Journalistic and independent investigations carried out by civil society organizations as well as various leaks have brought this relationship to light since 2013.
Crimes and Threats against Journalists
1. Murdered Mexican Journalist Cándido Ríos: Our Weapons Do Not Shoot Bullets. Our Weapons Shoot Truth (August 29, 2017)
2. Salvador Adame is the Seventh Journalist Murdered in Mexico i 2017 (June 27, 2017)
3. No to Silence’: Javier Valdez’s Murder Highlights Persistent Perils for Mexican Journalists (May 22, 2017)
4. Netizen Report: Mexican Journalists Were Threatened Online, Then Killed (April 20, 2017)
5. Reporter’s Murder in Mexico Revives Outrage over Violence against Journalists (March 26, 2017)
6. Anabel Flores Becomes Yet Another Journalist From Mexico’s Veracruz to be Killed (February 22, 2016)
7. You Can Also Demand Justice For the Journalists Killed in Mexico (August 25, 2015)
8. The Biggest Threat to Mexican Journalists Aren’t Drug Cartels Anymore (August 4, 2015)
9. 14 Journalists From Veracruz, Mexico Have Been Murdered During Governor Duarte’s Rule (August 4, 2015)
10. Mexico’s Independent Media Crackdown Threatens Indigenous Radio in Oaxaca(June 12, 2015)
11. Monitoring Mexico’s Midterm Elections with #BreakTheFear (June 8, 2015)
12. Diary of Journalist Pedro Canché Herrera, Prisoner of Conscience in Mexico(March 9, 2015)
13. The Western Hemisphere’s Deadliest Country for Journalists (February 13, 2015)
14. Citizen Journalist Kidnapped and Killed in Mexico for Reporting on Organized Crime (October 17, 2014)
Censorship, Surveillance, and State Manipulation
1. Photography Project Urges Mexicans Never to Forget Crimes that Have Gone Unpunished (March 18, 2017)
2. Netizen Report: In Kenya and Mexico, Citizens Suspect State Manipulation on Twitter (February 16, 2017)
3. Battle of the Hashtags: Mapping the Online Conversation Surrounding Mexico’s Gas Prices (February 15, 2017)
4. Mexico’s Controversial Telecom Law Is Now in the Supreme Court (April 27, 2016)
5. Meet Mexico’s Crowdfunding Campaign Against Censorship and Bots (April 6, 2015)
6. Prisoner of Conscience Pedro Canché’s Letter to Journalist Carmen Aristegui(March 26, 2015)
7. Mexico’s Airwaves Aren’t the Same Without Journalist Carmen Aristegui (March 23, 2015)
Global Voices will continue to report on these events and the work of local reporters, citizen journalists and social media users who bring threats and attacks to light. We seek to empower and defend those who are committed to telling the stories that matter in Mexico.
The article was first published in Global Voices.
Featured Image Source: Global Voices.