United Nations human rights
experts today urged the Honduran Government to take
immediate action to end violence against journalists in the
Central American country where, they said, seven media
professionals (six journalists and one broadcaster) have
been killed during the past six weeks, and several others
have been threatened.
"We urge the Government to take all necessary measures to
thoroughly investigate these killings and threats, prosecute
those responsible, and ensure the physical and psychological
integrity of all journalists under threat," the independent
experts said in a statement issued in Geneva.
Reporters Without Borders, a non-governmental organization
(NGO), has called Honduras and Mexico the deadliest
countries by far for journalists working in the Western
Hemisphere.
A UNESCO report found that rising numbers of journalists are
being killed worldwide, mostly in countries that are at
peace.
A record 77 slayings were reported by UNESCO last year,
including the killing of about 30 journalists in one day
during an ambush in the Philippines last November.
Honduras suffered nine months of political turmoil after a
military-led coup removed the elected president. Now, it
joins Mexico, riddled with drug violence, as the deadliest
place for journalists working in the Western hemisphere.
The 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis was a political
dispute over plans to rewrite the Constitution of Honduras,
which culminated in the forcible removal and exile of
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya by the Honduran military
acting on orders of Honduras' Supreme Court.
Authorities have denied the killings are linked to the
journalists' profession, nor that they indicate an
escalation of assaults against freedom of expression.
However, some reporters in San Pedro Sula are wearing
bulletproof vests.
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was formerly
known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British
Honduras (now Belize).
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