Impunity Spotlight: Mexico
Rubén Espinosa Becerril, Proceso,AVC Noticias, Cuartoscuro
July 31, 2015, in Mexico City, Mexico
Espinosa was found in an apartment with four female victims, and all of them had been shot in the head, authorities said on August 2. One of the victims, Nadia Vera, was a friend of Espinosa’s and a student activist in Xalapa, the Veracruz online publication Plumas Libresreported.
Espinosa fled Veracruz state and arrived in Mexico City in June 2015, he told CPJ in an interview that month. He worked for the local news agency AVC Noticias, the national newsweekly Proceso, and photo agency Cuartoscuro and often covered local activist causes, local journalists told CPJ.
Read more about Rubén Espinosa Becerril.
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Mexico is #8 on CPJ’s 2015 Impunity Index, which calculates the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country’s population. This month CPJ is highlighting cases from each of the 14 countries on the list ahead of the International Day to End Impunity on November 2.
Mexico
Mexico’s impunity rating has more than doubled since it first appeared on the index in 2008. Nineteen journalists covering crime and corruption were murderedwith complete impunity over the last decade. In 2013, Mexico introducedlegislation to enable federal authorities in Mexico to prosecute crimes against journalists, but the measure has failed to yield prosecutions, disappointing journalists and freedom of expression advocates. Since its passage, six more journalists have been murdered with impunity. In a chilling development this July, Mexican photographer Rubén Espinosa was tortured and murdered in Mexico City, previously considered a safe haven for journalists facing threats in Veracruz and other cartel-dominated states. Following the murder, more than 700 writers signed a letter to President Enrique Peña Nieto calling for the full investigation into crimes against journalists. “Organized crime, corrupt government officials, and a justice system incapable of prosecuting criminals all contribute to reporters’ extreme vulnerability,” read the letter, which CPJ supported.
IMPUNITY INDEX RATING: 0.152 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants
LAST YEAR: Ranked 7th with a rating of 0.132