Reporters Fredy López, Alberto Ramírez, Emerson Díaz and Mario Linares, were last Sunday driving to the town of La Libertad, in Huehuetenango province, 325 kilometers west of the capital, when they were intercepted by former members of the Civil Defense Patrols (PACs), who demanded that the government compensate them for their service during the 30-year civil war which ended in 1996.
The journalists were there to cover the presidential campaign of Efraín Ríos Montt, candidate of the Guatemalan Republican Front.
The IAPA sent a letter to Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo stating its concern over the safety of these journalists, who have been beaten and remain tied up, and urged the leader to intervene in their release, investigate the act, and bring those responsible to justice.
Below is the text of the letter signed by IAPA President Jack Fuller, from Tribune Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, and by Chairman of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Rafael Molina, from Ahora magazine, Santo Domingo, Dominican Repubilic.
“Mr. President,
On behalf of more than 1,300 written publications in the Western Hemisphere, we condemn the serious attack against freedom of the press in your country with the kidnapping of four journalists who were taken hostage by former members of the Civil Self Defense Patrols in the province of Huehuetenango.
As you know, journalists Fredy López, Alberto Ramírez, Emerson Díaz, and Mario Linares from Prensa Libre newspaper remain held by their captures and are known to have been victims of physical attacks. We fear that if there is no immediate mediation, worse consequences could result from this act.
Mr. President, given the urgency of this serious matter, we urge you to take
the necessary steps to ensure the safety of these journalists, protect the free
exercise of the press and whereabouts of journalists, and that this type of
act be promptly investigated and punished severely as stipulated in the Declaration
of Chapultepec that looks for protect press freedom and democracy.”
FUENTE: nota.texto7
