Héctor Ramírez

Guatemala

In December 2004, the U.N. Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) ceased monitoring the implementation of the 1996 peace accords that ended decades of civil conflict. The end of the MINUGUA mission was a political milestone for Guatemala, yet the peace accords have not been fully implemented, and human rights abuses remain widespread.

Seven years after the government and former guerrillas signed the last of a series of peace accords ending Guatemala's 36-year civil conflict, the nation continued its struggle with a legacy of massive human rights violations and impunity.

As relations between the government and the local press became more hostile, the number of attacks and threats against journalists increased significantly in 2003, making Guatemala one of the most dangerous places in the Americas to work as a journalist. That, along with a general increase in crime and violence during an election year, added to the tense political environment.

New York, January 2, 2004—A total of 36 journalists were killed worldwide as a direct result of their work in 2003, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). This is a sharp increase from 2002, when 19 journalists were killed. The war in Iraq was the primary reason for the increase, as 13 journalists, more than a third of this year's casualties, were killed in hostile actions.

In fact, according to CPJ's statistics, the death toll in Iraq was the highest annual total from a single country since 24 journalists were killed in Algeria in 1995 at the height of civil strife between the government and Islamist militants.

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  Guatemala City, October 24, 2003—A delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today verified a climate of threats and intimidation against the Guatemalan press, following a five-day visit to the country.
  
  The purpose of CPJ's visit was to assess press freedom conditions in Guatemala; ask the Guatemalan government to provide information about the status of investigations into threats and attacks against journalists; urge the government to guarantee the safety of media workers so that they are able to do their jobs in the current election process; and show solidarity with the local press.
  

Cidade da Guatemala, 24 de outubro de 2003 --Uma delegação do Comitê para a Proteção dos Jornalistas (CPJ) verificou o clima de ameaças e intimidações que vive a imprensa guatemalteca, após uma visita de cinco dias à Guatemala.

A visita do CPJ teve como objetivo constatar in loco a situação da liberdade de imprensa na Guatemala; solicitar ao governo guatemalteco informações sobre as investigações dos casos de ameaças e agressões contra jornalistas; exortar o governo para que garanta a segurança dos profissionais da imprensa nesta conjuntura eleitoral para que possam cumprir seu trabalho informativo; e manifestar nossa solidariedade, e a da comunidade internacional, para com a imprensa local.

Nova York, 24 de julho de 2003 — O Comitê de Proteção aos Jornalistas (CPJ) está chocado e pesaroso com a morte de Héctor Ramírez, repórter do Canal 7 da televisão, que morreu hoje quando cobria protestos na capital, Cidade de Guatemala.

Juan Carlos Lange, diretor de notícias de Notisiete, o programa de notícias para o qual Ramírez trabalhava, disse hoje ao CPJ que ainda não está claro exatamente como o jornalista, de 62 anos, morreu. Os resultados da autópsia irão revelar se Ramírez morreu em decorrência de ferimentos, depois de ter sido espancado por manifestantes, ou de um infarto quando tentava fugir de seus atacantes.

New York, July 24, 2003— The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is shocked and saddened by the death of Héctor Ramírez, a reporter for Guatemala's Channel 7 television station, who died today while covering protests in the capital, Guatemala City.

Juan Carlos Lange, news director at "Notisiete," the news program for which Ramírez worked, told CPJ today that it is unclear exactly how the journalist, 62, died. Forthcoming autopsy results will reveal whether Ramírez died of wounds sustained after being beaten by protesters, or of a heart attack while he was trying to escape his attackers.

Colombia's civil conflict once again took a brutal toll on the country's press, with journalists threatened, attacked, kidnapped, and murdered. At least three journalists were killed for their work in 2002, and CPJ continues to investigate the slayings of five others whose deaths may have been related to their reporting. At year's end, Colombia's overburdened justice system appeared far from solving any of these murders, perpetuating a climate of impunity that leaves the media wide open to attacks.