The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, has called for an investigation into the killing, in two separate incidents, of journalists Israel Vázquez Rangel in the municipality of Salamanca in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato on 9 November, and of Jesús Alfonso Piñuelas, in Cajeme, in the northern Mexican state of Sonora.
I condemn the murders of Israel Vázquez Rangel and Jesús Alfonso Piñuelas. I call on the Mexican authorities to take measures to improve the safety of journalists and enable them to carry out their work without having to fear for their lives. I trust that both of these crimes will be investigated and that their perpetrators will be held to account.
Israel Vázquez Rangel was shot dead on 9 November while covering a story for digital newspaper El Salmantino.
Jesús Alfonso Piñuelas—founder of the news media Zarathustra Press and of El Shock de la Noticia and a contributor to numerous outlets including Televisora del Yaqui, and ICI News Agency—was fatally shot while riding his motorcycle on 2 November.
UNESCO promotes the safety of journalists through global awareness-raising, capacity building and a range of actions, notably in the framework of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity.
See also: UNESCO observatory of killed journalists
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