Director-General of UNESCO condemns murder of Mexican journalist Hugo Alfredo Olivera Cartas
16-07-2010 (Paris)
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today condemned the murder of Mexican journalist Hugo Alfredo Olivera Cartas, who was found dead in his car on 6 July near Apatzingán in the western state of Michoacán.
“I condemn the murder of Hugo Alfredo Olivera Cartas and I call on the authorities to make every effort to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice, in order to put an end to impunity,” said Ms Bokova. “After this latest attack on freedom of information, Mexican justice must be given the necessary means to take action.”
According to Reporters without Borders (RSF), Hugo Alfredo Olivera Cartas, 27, received a telephone call summoning him to the scene of an accident. His body was found several hours later, with three gunshot wounds to the head. His office was later broken into. Olivera was the editor of the Apatzingán-based daily El Día de Michoacán and specialised in covering crime. He was the founder of the local press agency ADN and also worked as a correspondent for the national agency Quadratin.
He is the eighth journalist to be murdered in Mexico this year, according to RSF. To protest this latest killing, some 200 journalists demonstrated in Morelia, the Michoacán state capital, Quadratin agency reported.
According to Reporters without Borders (RSF), Hugo Alfredo Olivera Cartas, 27, received a telephone call summoning him to the scene of an accident. His body was found several hours later, with three gunshot wounds to the head. His office was later broken into. Olivera was the editor of the Apatzingán-based daily El Día de Michoacán and specialised in covering crime. He was the founder of the local press agency ADN and also worked as a correspondent for the national agency Quadratin.
He is the eighth journalist to be murdered in Mexico this year, according to RSF. To protest this latest killing, some 200 journalists demonstrated in Morelia, the Michoacán state capital, Quadratin agency reported.
UNESCO is the only United Nations agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. Article 1 of its Constitution requires the Organization to “further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.” To realize this purpose the Organization is required to “collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image…”
Related themes/countries
· Mexico
· Press Freedom
· UNESCO Remembers Assassinated Journalists
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