The UN is urging Mexico to do more to protect it's journalists. (excerpt): "The panel asked that Mexico go ahead with implementing the Law for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, a bill that would strengthen prosecution for attacks on media workers. The panel does not expect the bill to solve the issue, but does believe it to be a step in the right direction. Human rights defenders in Mexico desperately need the State’s effective protection now,” said Margaret Sekaggya, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. “They continue to suffer killings, attacks, harassment, threats, stigmatization and other serious human rights violations. 7 news media employees have been killed in Veracruz state alone in the last 18 months, 4 being killed within the last last two weeks. According to the National Commission for Human Rights, 80 journalists or media workers have been killed in Mexico since 2000, 14 have gone missing."
The Knight Center has organized much needed webinars and seminars offering safety strategies for Mexican journalists - over 100 have participated so far. Tragically, the violent tactics of criminals has silenced another important news outlet in Mexico, as Nuevo Laredo's El Manana has publicly declared it would no longer report on the drug war.
According to this article from the Dallas News, Mexican citizens look to the U.S. to take a stronger role in combating the violence that plagues their country. It is the opinion of many familiar with the drug war that the US could start by doing more to stop the flow of guns across the border, and the demand for drugs coming in.
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