Attack on journalists in Mexico is worrying

MEXICO CITY (EFE).— The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) yesterday expressed its concern about the violence against human rights defenders and journalists in Mexico, while reiterating the challenges in terms of citizen security, especially due to the high number of disappearances and militarization.

“The Commission observes with concern the persistence of complaints about threats and violence against human rights defenders and journalists,” indicated the 2023 report of this autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), based in Washington.

In 2023, Mexico recorded the murder of eight journalists, the highest number for a country that is not experiencing a situation of war, according to data from Amnesty International.

Likewise, he regretted “particularly the information provided by civil society about the public accusations by authorities of the Mexican State” against these groups.

On the other hand, he negatively assessed the “setback” in the “gradual plan” for the withdrawal of the Armed Forces from fulfilling public security functions, as “the previously established deadlines” were extended.

In this sense, the Commission reiterated that “the situation of violence and insecurity in Mexico, generated by the actions of organized crime groups together with a militarized response, has as a consequence” an increase “in serious human rights violations.”

The President has defended his policy of involving the Army in security tasks to address the crisis of violence in the country, and although homicide numbers have decreased, they still remain very high.

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scary figures

The federal government reported an average of 81 daily murders in 2023, compared to the average of 91 reviewed by Inegi in 2022, the Secretary of Citizen Security, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, reported at the beginning of the year in the President’s morning conference.