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Director-General calls on Mexican authorities to investigate killing of journalist Maximino Rodríguez Palacios

19 April 2017

The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today denounced the killing of Maximino Rodríguez Palacios in La Paz, the Mexican state capital of Baja California Sur on 14 April.

“I condemn the killing of Maximino Rodríguez Palacios,” said the Director-General. “We cannot allow criminals to attack the media for bringing information to the public. I call on the authorities to ensure that this crime is investigated and that its perpetrators are brought to justice in order to protect freedom of expression and freedom of information.”

Rodríguez Palacios wrote a regular column on politics and crime for the blog Colectivo Pericú, which covers current events in Baja California Sur, and was shot by unidentified assailants.

The Director-General of UNESCO issues statements on the killing of media workers in line with Resolution 29 adopted by UNESCO Member States at the Organization’s General Conference of 1997, entitled “Condemnation of Violence against Journalists.” These statements are posted on a dedicated webpage, UNESCO condemns the killing of journalists.

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Media contact: Sylvie Coudray, s.coudray@unesco.org, +33 (0)1 45 68 42 12

UNESCO is the 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 the Organization is requested 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…”