The hemisphere free-press organization said that in the official investigations in the majority of the cases there was clearly negligence, indifference, an absence of political will, lack of an adequate legal framework, a weak judicial system, deficient investigative work by poorly-trained police detectives, insufficient financial resources to ensure public safety and the administration of justice, and corruption of officials.
During its Midyear Meeting in La Romana, Dominican Republic, March 15-19, the IAPA adopted resolutions concerning the murder of journalists that are being sent by IAPA President Roberto J. Cox, assistant editor of The Post and Courier, Charleston, South Carolina, in protest messages to the governments of Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico and Paraguay.
In Bolivia, the organization called on the government to reopen an investigation into the July 29, 2001, murder of Juan Carlos Encinas.
It is also asking the Brazilian government for a response to its request for renewed action in nine murder investigations that have either slowed down or stalled completely. The IAPA resolution mentions the murders of Reinaldo Coutinho da Silva in 1995, Manoel Leal de Oliveira on October 14, 1998, Edgar Lopes de Faria on October 29, 1997, Ronaldo Santana de Araújo on October 9, 1997, José Carlos Mesquita on March 10, 1998, Maria Nilce Magalhães on July 5, 1989, Mário Eugenio Rafael de Oliveira on November 11, 1984, José Wellington Fernándes on March 13, 2000, and Mário Coelho de Almeida, Jr. on August 16, 2001. The IAPA plans to send a mission to Brazil later this year, announced Impunity Committee Chairman Alberto Ibargüen, publisher of The Miami Herald, Miami, Florida.
The resolution concerning Colombia also deals with nine murders - those of Alvaro Alonso Escobar on December 23, 2001, Orlando Sierra Hernández on February 21, 2002, Amparo Leonor Jiménez on August 11, 1998, Guzmán Quintero Torres on September 16, 1999, Jaime Garzón on August 13, 1999, Gerardo Bedoya on March 21, 1997, Hernando Rangel Moreno on April 11, 1999, Jairo Elías Márquez on November 20, 1997, and Ernesto Acero Cadena on December 12, 1995.
In Haiti, the scene of an escalation of violence against the press in recent months, the IAPA is calling of the government to take the necessary steps to solve the murders of journalists Brignol Lindor on December 3, 2001, Gerard Denoze on December 15, 2001, and Jean Leopold Dominique on April 3, 2000.
In the case of Mexico, it is urging the President Vicente Fox administration and the judiciary to bring to justice those guilt of the murders of Félix Fernández García on January 18, 2002, Philip True on December 16, 1998, Héctor Félix Miranda on April 29, 1998, and Víctor Manuel Oropeza on July 3, 1991.
These cases were investigated by the IAPA within
the framework of the Unpunished Crimes Against Journalists project that it launched
in 1995 with funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Reports
on these inquiries, their findings and the resolutions stemming from them are
posted on the Web site www.impunidad.com
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