MIAMI, Florida (June 25, 2004)—The president of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), Jack Fuller, welcomed today an announcement by Mexican President Vicente Fox that his government “will do whatever is necessary to shed light on the events that I now condemn and to bring about the conditions of security for the free exercise of journalism.”
This was a reference to the murder on June 23 of Francisco Ortiz Franco, publisher of the weekly Zeta in Tijuana, northern Mexico, into which the IAPA has called for an immediate in-depth investigation by Mexican authorities. Ortiz Franco was a member of an IAPA task force that together with Mexican federal and Baja California state government officials has been reviewing the case file of the 1988 murder of Héctor Félix Miranda, Zeta’s co-founder, with the aim of bringing all those guilty to justice.
In a letter to Fuller dated June 24, Fox announced that he had “instructed the Attorney General of Mexico to look into the possibility of placing the inquiries under federal jurisdiction to as to enable this attack to be solved.” He pledged that the federal attorney general’s office would work closely state prosecutors.
Fuller, president of Chicago-based Tribune Publishing Company, welcomed the possibility of the case coming under federal jurisdiction. In a response to Fox’s announcement, he said, “We believe, Mr. President, as we have been requesting in the majority of cases of crimes against journalists, that the federal authorities becoming involved offers greater guarantees of transparency and effectiveness in such delicate issues as when the Mexican public’s fundamental human right to information is compromised.”
Fuller added that the IAPA recognizes President Fox’ democratic will and commitment to the murder of journalists not being allowed to go unpunished. He recalled that Fox had signed an agreement with the IAPA (at the organization’s meeting in Los Cabos, Mexico, this past March) to work on reviewing the case files in the still-unsolved murders of journalists in Mexico and on seeking ways at the federal level to combat impunity.
Following is the full text of the letter signed by President Vicente Fox Quesada of Mexico:
“Dear Mr. Fuller:
My government views with profound sorrow the death of journalist Francisco Ortiz Franco and condemns this criminal act, which deeply offends us as a society.
This reprehensible act will be responded to by my government by the strict application of the law, not only because a person has been deprived of the most precious thing, life itself, but because it concerns a professional dedicated to serving the community through the practice of journalism.
Just as my government did in responding to a request of the Inter American Press Association to set up a task force to review the case file in the murder of another journalist, the co-editor of the weekly Zeta, Héctor Félix Miranda, in 1988, and in which Francisco Ortiz Franco was acting as liaison with the Inter American Press Association, I have ordered the necessary action to be taken so that no effort is spared in assisting the investigations.
I have instructed the Attorney General of Mexico to look into the possibility of placing the inquiries under federal jurisdiction as to enable this attack to be solved. That office will collaborate closely with the state attorney general’s office.
I share the Inter American Press Association’s desire to put an end to the impunity that offends the very fibers of our societies.
We democratic governments have an obligation to generate the conditions that enable journalists to carry out their profession freely because they – as my government recognizes – are, and must be, the sound of alarm against the abuse of power.
Mr. Fuller, with the regret that motivates this letter, receive the commitment that my government will do whatever is necessary to shed light on the events that I now condemn and to bring about the conditions of security for the free exercise of journalism.”
FUENTE: nota.texto7
