The FINANCIAL — GENEVA. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) denounces in the strongest possible manner the worrying developments in Latin America related to the killing of journalists.
From 1 January till the end of March 22 journalists were killed while performing their job in 12 countries, 13 of which were killed in 4 countries in Latin America.
Honduras was the worst country witnessing the killing of 5 journalists in March. The growing tensions since the coup d’état and the controversial elections of last year contributed to this climate. The Press Emblem Campaign calls upon the authorities in Honduras to take action against the perpetrators of those crimes, which make Honduras and Mexico (5 killed since January), the most dangerous countries. This climate of extreme danger results from the ongoing war between security services and organized crime cartels primarily drug cartels.
Two journalists were killed in Venezuela and one in Colombia during the reporting period.
Elsewhere the situation is serious in Nepal. This country witnessed the killing of two journalists from the beginning of the year.
One journalist was killed in Bulgaria, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Angola, Russia, Yemen and Pakistan. Many journalists were kidnapped in Afghanistan, and others were imprisoned in Iran.
Comparing with the figures of the first quarter of last year (36 journalists killed) shows a relative improvement in the situation this year due to a decrease in the crisis level in Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Gaza resulting from the Israeli military operation, and Sri Lanka.
However, the statistics of the first quarter of 2010 are close to the tally of the same period of 2008 (20 journalists) and 2007 (22 journalists).
The Press Emblem Campaign expresses its hope that during the Panel Discussion on the Protection of Journalists in Armed Conflicts during the June session of the Human Rights Council, the Council would reach concrete proposals and recommendations to improve the protection of journalists in situations of armed conflicts and violence. 122 journalists were killed while carrying out their profession last year.
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