Violence against journalists, Journalists Missing in Mexico

1. “violence against
journalists”
JOURNALISTS MISSING IN MEXICO

2. Journalists Missing in Mexico
 Community to Protect Journalists (CPJ) research indicates that the
following journalists have disappeared while doing their work.
Although some of them are feared dead, no bodies have been
found, and they are therefore not classified as "Killed." If a journalist
disappeared after being held in government custody, CPJ classifies
him or her as "Imprisoned" as a way to hold the government
accountable for the journalist's fate.

3. 2012
MEXICO:
 Miguel Morales Estrada, Diario de Poza Rica and Tribuna Papanteca,
July 19, 2012, Poza Rica, Veracruz
 Morales, a crime photojournalist for the daily Diario de Poza Rica and a
freelancer for the newspaper Tribuna Papanteca in the town of
Papantla in Veracruz state, was last seen by his wife in the city of Poza
Rica, news reports said. He disappeared after telling staff atDiario de
Poza Rica that he needed to get out of the city "for personal reasons,"
according to a statement from the Veracruz attorney general's office.
 Morales' wife filed a complaint with the Veracruz state prosecutor on
July 23, according to news reports. Authorities said they launched an
investigation into the reporter's disappearance, news reports said.
 Local journalists told CPJ that Morales' disappearance had heightened
fear among the Veracruz press corps.

4. 2011
 MEXICO:
 Marco Antonio López Ortiz, Novedades Acapulco, June 7, 2011, Acapulco
 The daily newspaper Novedades Acapulco reported on June 9 that López, its news editor, had
been abducted by a group of men two nights earlier. López's supervisor, Armando Robles, told
CPJ that when López did not arrive at the paper the day before, a group of reporters began to
retrace his movements. The editor left work at 10:30 p.m. the night of the 7th and then went to
visit his godfather at his home, leaving the house around 11:30 p.m., Robles said.
 Witnesses told Robles that a group of men assaulted López as he crossed a street. People
gathered at a corner taco stand said they thought they were witnessing a robbery, "but the men
took him away. We don't know why." Robles said.
 Among other responsibilities, López, 42, managed the paper's coverage of crime. Journalists in
Acapulco told CPJ that they are under constant threat by organized crime groups to keep
coverage to a minimum.
 Robles said the paper’s crime stories are cautious and limited, with details almost always
constrained to what the police release officially, as the staff hopes to avoid angering crime
cartels that are fighting for control of Acapulco. "We don't investigate," Robles said. Publishing
more in-depth information could make them targets.

5. 2010
 MEXICO:
 Miguel Angel Domínguez Zamora, El Mañana, March 2010, Reynosa
Pedro Argüello, El Mañana and La Tarde, March 2010, Reynosa
Domínguez and Argüello, reporters with El Mañana newspaper group in the Mexican city of Reynosa, near the Texas border, went
missing during a wave of drug violence in the border city that endangered the local media, according to press reports and CPJ
interviews.
 Coming amid a series of violent confrontations between the Zetas and the Gulf cartel, the abductions sowed even greater fear in the
local press corps, which was already practicing widespread self-censorship. Colleagues said the missing journalists could have done
something to anger either the Gulf cartel or the Zetas or somehow gotten caught in the warfare between the groups. Authorities
provided very little information on the seizures.
 A third reporter for the newspaper group, David Silva, was also reported missing at the time. Silva reappeared months later, according to
reports from several journalists, although the circumstances of his disappearance remained unclear.
 Ramón Ángeles Zalpa, Cambio de Michoacán, April 6, 2010, Paracho
 Ángeles, a part-time correspondent for the newspaper Cambio de Michoacán, was last seen leaving home to go to the National
University of Pedagogy, where he worked as a professor, his son, Rommell David Ángeles Méndez, told CPJ.
 Juan Ignacio Salazar, chief of correspondents for the Morelia-based Cambio de Michoacán, told CPJ that Ángeles was a general
assignment reporter who did not routinely cover sensitive stories. In March 2010, however, Ángeles covered an armed attack on a local
indigenous family, Salazar said. The journalist did not report receiving any threats, he said.
 Ángeles’ son told CPJ that the journalist received an anonymous phone call two days before he vanished, but he said that his father did
not disclose details of the call. “We don’t know what happened,” Ángeles’ son said. “My father never mentioned having any enemies or
fear. He just vanished.” Federal and state investigators said a missing-person investigation was ongoing. No leads have been disclosed.


6. 2009
 MEXICO:
 María Esther Aguilar Cansimbe, El Diario de Zamora and Cambio de Michoacán.November 11,
2009, Zamora
 Aguilar, 32, a veteran reporter and mother of two, was last seen leaving her home in Zamora, in the
central state of Michoacán, after receiving a cell phone call, according to news reports and CPJ
interviews. State and federal authorities have not disclosed any leads or suspects in the case.
 Aguilar reported for regional news outlets, including the Zamora-based daily El Diario de Zamora and the
regional daily Cambio de Michoacán. While her coverage varied, she tended to focus on organized
crime and local corruption. In the weeks before she vanished, Aguilar’s reporting highlighted police
abuse allegations, the military’s anti-cartel efforts, and the arrest in Zamora of at least three individuals,
including a politician’s son, on suspicion of collusion with organized crime groups. On October 27, her
story on local police abuse was followed by the resignation of a high-ranking official. Soon after that
piece ran, she reported on the arrest of a reputed local leader of the cartel La Familia Michoacana.
 Aware of possible reprisals, Aguilar did not include her byline on many risky stories, colleagues told CPJ.
She did not mention receiving threats before her disappearance, they said.
 Her husband, David Silva, told CPJ that the influence of the cartels in Zamora was so strong he did not
have faith in police to determine what happened. “With most of the police here you don’t know who
you’re talking to—a detective or a representative of organized crime,” he said.

7. 2006
 MEXICO:
 Rafael Ortiz Martínez, Zócalo and XHCCG, July 8, 2006, Monclava
Ortiz, a reporter for the Monclova-based daily Zócalo and host of the morning
news program "Radio Zócalo" on XHCCG, was last seen leaving the newspaper's
offices in a red car at 1:30 a.m. on July 8. Sergio Cisneros, Zócalo's editor, said
Ortiz had been editing material for a radio show the next morning.
 A Zócalo company car arrived at 6 a.m. on July 9 to pick up Ortiz, but the
journalist was not home. His father, Rafael Ortiz del Toro, reported the
disappearance to the Coahuila state prosecutor on the morning of July 10.
 No one heard from Ortiz since, and there were no signs of the car in which he
was last seen, Cohauila Police Lt. Aurelio Masías told CPJ. Masías said the
investigation had no concrete leads but police were focusing on Ortiz's work.
 Ortiz had reported on the prevalence of prostitution in Monclova, the resulting
spread of HIV/AIDS, and its effect on families.

8. 2005
 MEXICO:
 Alfredo Jiménez Mota, El Imparcial, April 2, 2005, Hermosillo
Jiménez, a crime reporter for the Hermosillo-based daily, disappeared from his home in the city of
Hermosillo in the northwestern state of Sonora at about 9 p.m. on April 2. That night, he called a
colleague at El Imparcial to say that he was going to meet with one of his contacts, according to
Juan F. Healy, president and general director of the daily. Jiménez told his colleague that the
contact was "very nervous." No one has heard from Jiménez since that call.
 Jiménez, 25, lives alone in Hermosillo and has been working with El Imparcial for the last six
months. Police said that no belongings were taken and nothing was disturbed.
 Recent articles of Jiménez have investigated drug-trafficking families in the region. Sonora
prosecutors have linked his disappearance with his journalistic work.
 According to CPJ's recent research, Mexico's northern states have become one of the most
hazardous places in Latin America for journalists to practice their profession. Journalists like
Jiménez, who cover crime and drug trafficking, are particularly vulnerable.

9. Source of information:
http://cpj.org/reports/2008/02/journalists-missing.php

10. Presented by:-
 MUDHASIR AMIN BHAT
 Perusing Masters Degree in Islamic University of Science and
technology, Awantipora, Jammu and Kashmir.
 Email: mudasiraminbhat@gmail.com