PBI-Honduras accompanies Dina Meza at media conference on press freedom in Latin America

On March 27, PBI-Honduras tweeted:

“Last week we accompanied @DinaMeza14 of @asopodehu [the Association for Democracy and Human Rights in Honduras] during the press conference ‘Freedom of expression organisations ask Central American states for timely attention mechanisms to defend freedom of expression in the region’.”

They also tweeted:

“Throughout this space, a call was made to the states to guarantee the safety of journalists by adopting protection measures with a gender focus that take into account the specific risks and situations that they experience due to their work.

According to the @RSF_eng [Reporters without Borders] World Press Freedom Index 2022, Honduras ranks 165th in the world in terms of freedom of expression. Between 2001 and 2020, 92 journalists and media workers were murdered in the country.

PBI reminds us of the importance of protecting journalists and social communicators in order to guarantee freedom of expression in Honduras. We highlight the work of journalist and human rights defender Dina Meza, who has been accompanied since 2014.”

Journalists killed in Latin America

In its article on this media conference in Tegucigalpa last week, Radio YSKL reported: “Currently, Latin America is the deadliest continent for the press, and 2022 was particularly dangerous: 39 journalists were killed in the region.”

Earlier this year, The Guardian also reported: “More journalists were killed in Latin America and the Caribbean than in any other part of the world last year, including the Ukraine war zone, the press watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said. …The group said that, globally, at least 67 journalists and media workers had been killed in 2022, nearly double the 2021 figure of 45. …Almost half of last year’s killings took place in Latin America and the Caribbean, where at least 30 journalists were killed, including the longtime Guardian contributor Dom Phillips.”

The CPJ annual report for 2022 notes: “[In Mexico] through August, CPJ had documented three journalists murdered in retaliation for their work  in 2022 and is investigating the circumstances of 10 other journalist killings to determine if they were work-related.”

The Guardian adds: “The CPJ also documented work-related killings of journalists in Chile and Colombia and was investigating other deaths in Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras and Paraguay.”

Tweets from the media conference

APES tweet: “Dina Meza, from @asopodehu, said that violence against journalists in Honduras still persists through stigmatizing speeches promoted by officials in retaliation for the information that journalists disseminate.”

The other speakers on this panel are from the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) in Colombia, the Association of Journalists of El Salvador (APES) and Reporters without Borders (RSF).

Reporters without Borders tweet: “The RSF team is at #Honduras for meetings with journalists and local organizations. At a press conference held in Tegucigalpa with @FLIP_org @apeselsalvador @ASOPODEHU_HN and @PeriodistasNica, we denounced the escalation of violence against journalists in Central America.”

We continue to follow this with interest.

Further reading: Organizaciones denuncian escalada de violencia contra prensa en Centroamérica (EFE, March 23, 2023).