March - October 2007

United States, Washington, D.C. (October 11, 2007) Working session at the offices of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the Manoel Leal de Oliveira, Brazil, case. Taking part were representatives of the Brazilian government and the IAPA. For the IAPA, Milton Coleman, The Washington Post, Washington, DC, and Press Freedom Director Ricardo Trotti.

Mexico, Mexico City (September 12-14, 2007) Impunity Project. Work strategies of the new Impunity project and follow-up in Mexico of the Héctor Félix Miranda and Víctor Manuel Oropeza cases before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Meetings with Supreme Court justices and representatives of the Senate, Legal Research Institute, National Attorney General’s Office, Federal Judiciary Council, National Human Rights Commission and Foreign Ministry. For the IAPA, Roberto Rock, El Universal, Mexico City, Mexico; Press Freedom Director Ricardo Trotti, Miami, Florida, and María Idalia Gómez, Rapid Response Unit in Mexico.

Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo (July 18-20, 2007) Impunity Project. Hemisphere Conference: The Judiciary, The Press and Impunity. Taking part were 24 justices, 12 of them Supreme Court chief justices y the other 12 Supreme Court members; there were also nearly 200 other attendees, among them judges, lawyers, newspaper editors and publishers from a number of countries, international experts, journalists and IAPA members.

Bolivia, Santa Cruz de la Sierra (May 24-25, 2007) Impunity Project. Seminar: Reporting Under Risk. Taking part were 80 Bolivian Journalists. For the IAPA, Press Freedom Director Ricardo Trotti; Clarinha Glock, Rapid Response Unit in Brazil; María Idalia Gómez, Rapid Response Unit in Mexico; Jorge Elías, Rapid Response Unit in Argentina, and Impunity Project Coordinator Mauricio Montaldo.

Peru, Lima (May 16-18, 2007) Impunity Project. Joint IAPA-Peruvian Press Council mission to discuss with authorities in Lima and Pucallpa issues concerning the murders of Alberto Rivera Fernández, Antonio de la Torre Echeandía, Miguel Pérez Julca, Todd Smith and Jaime Ayala. In Lima, meetings with President, Alan García Pérez, who signed the Declaration of Chapultepec; the president of the Judicial Branch, Francisco Távara Córdova; the head of the Office of Control of the (OCMA), Elcira Vásquez; members of Congress Mercedes Cabanillas, speaker of the Peruvian Congress, and Raúl Castro, chairman of the Congressional Justice Committee; Council of Ministers Chairman Jorge del Castillo; National Attorney General Adelaida Bolívar Arteaga; Interior Minister Luis Alva Castro and senior police officers.

In Pucallpa, regarding the Alberto Rivera Fernández murder case, meetings with journalists and media executives; Ucayali Supreme Court Chief Justice Edgar Padilla Vásquez; Criminal Court Judges Miriam Calmet Caynero, Juana Tejada and Leoncio Huamaní Mendoza; Ucayali State Attorney Delbo Rodríguez Ticona; Rivera family lawyers and the district attorney handling the case. For the IAPA, Roberto Rock, El Universal, Mexico City, Mexico; Alejandro Miró Quesada, El Comercio, Lima, Peru; Milton Coleman, The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.; Clemente Vivanco, La Hora, Quito, Ecuador, and Press Freedom Director Ricardo Trotti, Miami, Florida. For the Peruvian Press Council, Gustavo Mohme Seminario, La República, Lima, Peru.

Colombia, Bogotá (May 8, 2007) Impunity Project. Meeting with officials of the Attorney General’s Office and Foreign Ministry on the Nelson Carvajal case. Taking part in the meeting were Clara Inés Vargas, director for Human Rights and International Law at the Foreign Ministry; Leonardo Cabana, director of the Human Rights Unit at the Colombian Attorney General’s Office; Douglas Lordoy, auxiliary judge with the Judiciary Superior Council, and Lilia Janeth Hernández, district attorney handling the case. For the IAPA, Enrique Santos Calderón, El Tiempo, Bogotá, Colombia, and Diana Calderón, Rapid Response Unit in Colombia.

Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo (April 26, 2007) Impunity Project. Course on Risks and Ethics in Journalism. Taking part were 80 Dominican journalists. For the IAPA, Rafael Molina, El Día, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Press Freedom Director Ricardo Trotti and María Idalia Gómez, Rapid Response Unit in Mexico.

Argentina, Buenos Aires (April 15-20, 2007) Impunity Project. Course on Reporting in Hostile Environments. Taking part were 25 journalists from Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru. Caecopaz. For the IAPA, Press Freedom Director Ricardo Trotti.

United States, Miami, Florida (April 11, 2007) Presentation on Press Freedom in the Americas and on Crimes Against Journalists, at Florida International University (FIU), North Campus. For the IAPA, Press Freedom Director Ricardo Trotti.