MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission says it is investigating the killing of a journalist in Veracruz, an eastern state that has been the site of many journalists’ slayings in recent years.
Reporters Without Borders condemned Monday the killing of Manuel Torres. The group says Torres worked as a freelance reporter and also for the city government in Poza Rica.
Torres was killed Saturday by a single shot to the head as he returned home. Until 2014, he was a local reporter for TV Azteca. He also maintained a news website. More recently he also worked for a city councilman.
The state prosecutor’s office says it will investigate the murder.
At least 16 journalists have been killed in Veracruz since 2010 and three others have disappeared.
Luis Raúl González Pérez, head of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), called on the authorities of the state of Veracruz to shed light on the crime and to find those responsible and to be brought to justice, and that there be no impunity.
The actions taken by the CNDH are part of the “Alert 6” mechanism launched at the beginning of 2016 in order to prevent, treat and monitor attacks on journalists, implemented in coordination with the 16 offices of the national commission, with public human rights bodies and the authorities of the three levels of government.
The CNDH emphasizes the importance of the state to guarantee conditions that allow journalists to practice their profession without restriction, while those who pose attacks on their security should reprobated, and it demands that all cases are investigated in full.
#CNDH atrae homicidio de #periodista Manuel Torres; demanda a @GobiernoVer no #impunidad | https://t.co/TMduD1Wcrx pic.twitter.com/IBsMdm1SRX
— CNDH en México (@CNDH) May 16, 2016
