Even though journalists in Mexico have access to protection mechanisms, derived from the fact that their lives are in danger for the pursuit of their profession, it has shortcomings, as deaths of communicators have been recorded, such as that of Lourdes Maldonado, which took place in Tijuana, Baja California, who had these measures.
Until September 2021, the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador acknowledged the murder of at least 47 journalists committed during the current administration, however, since that date, Fredy López Arévalo has been assassinated (October 28, 2021, in Chiapas); Alfredo Cardoso Echeverría (October 31, 2021, in Guerrero), José Luis Arenas Gamboa (January 10, 2022, in Veracruz), Margarito Martínez (January 17, 2022, in Baja California) and Lourdes Maldonado López of January 20223 (January 20223 in Baja California).
With these latest cases, there are at least 52 communicators who were fatally attacked during the current government.
Similarly, until last September, the federal government acknowledged the deaths of seven journalists who were part of the protection mechanism, whether local or federal. In addition, there are the cases of Arenas Gamboa and Maldonado López, who give a total of nine dead journalists, despite the fact that their protection should be a priority for the authorities.
In the case of photojournalist Martínez Esquivel, on December 13, 2021, he requested his incorporation into the State System for the Protection of Journalists, an organization that sent his request to the Federal Segob Mechanism, but it is known that his incorporation process was not do not complete.
Faced with the cases, social organizations expressed their concern about the processes of incorporation into the protection systems, due to bureaucratic excess, multiple requirements and documents by journalists before effective protection measures are put in place.
The Superior Audit of the Federation warned in the Public Account 2018 that the actions taken by the State for the protection of journalists have been unsuccessful since the work of the Segob, the CNDH, the CEAV and the then PGR were implemented in ‘ a deficient and incoherent, with a lack of political will with which the Protection Mechanism functions, so that they have not achieved their goal of stopping the increase in grievances against the lives of journalists and human rights defenders.
They point out shortcomings
Amir Ibrahim Mohamed, who has been part of the journalist protection mechanism since 2018, maintains that despite the fact that the mechanism worked for him, there are some internal measures that have shortcomings, including the way journalists are selected. the escort service that does not adequately protect.
The journalist, who was threatened after investigating cases of corruption by a group of businessmen collaborating with organized crime in Quintana Roo, also believes the way in which the risk of including a communicator in the mechanism is analyzed is the challenge. .
“Now there is a lot of criticism that two of the murdered journalists were protected, but it will be necessary to see what protection plan they have and who approved it (…) which has failed to this day as far as we know. This is happening at the moment, the protection plans are in many cases not sufficient (…) some are protected from more and some from less ”, he emphasizes.
The secretary of Mexico’s displaced journalists, and communicator for ElQuintanaRoo.mx, also acknowledges that after the violence he suffered for his job, his vulnerability has been greater since his tranquility disappeared.
For her part, Camelia Muñoz, MVS news correspondent in Coahuila, who has been working for the mechanism for four years, said her experience with these protection measures was not entirely the best, explaining that from her initial risk analysis, the authorities limited the see of the minimum protection measures, despite the fact that on several occasions she denounced the intrusion of people into her home and actions that endangered her life.
Regarding situations as described above, the activist also warns that it is being reported, but she points out that they take it for granted, “but then they no longer tell you what the follow-up is (…) they could not tell me the measures of Integral protection. They even put you in a moment of emotional instability, you are not sure, ”she complains.
At the time, after a year of being integrated into the mechanism, she had managed to get better protection measures, such as installing security cameras and fences throughout her home. While this mechanism also lacks a gender perspective.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx