In an emotional ceremony held yesterday the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) honored the memory of journalist Francisco Ortiz Franco, six years after his murder. The organization took advantage of the occasion to express outrage at the lack of justice surrounding this crime and announced that it will submit the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in the next few days.

The IAPA will present a documentary on journalist Francisco Ortiz Franco in Tijuana to commemorate the sixth anniversary of his murder on June 22, 2004; at the same time it will hold a seminar on how to reduce risks while covering the news.

A proposed amendment to the Brazilian Constitution (PEC), which would put investigations into crimes against journalists under federal jurisdiction, went under debate in the federal Senate on June 9.

The IAPA called on Brazil’s President Inácio Lula da Silva to support a Senate proposal for a constitutional amendment that would automatically make crimes against journalists and against press freedom federal offenses.

Brazil—Senator Roberto Cabalcanti (PRB-Paraiba) in the next few days plans to present a bill for amendment of the Constitution seeking to make attempts upon the lives of journalists while they are carrying out their work to automatically come under federal jurisdiction. In a speech before the Federal Senate on May 26 he came out in favor of this proposal, which had been aired by Regional Attorney General Janice Agostinho Barreto Ascari during the forum titled “Shortcomings and Gaps in Justice in Crimes Against the Press.”

The IAPA called today’s capture of an escaped Brazilian prisoner who had been serving time for the 2002 murder in Rio de Janeiro of journalist Tim Lopes a positive move. The defendant, who fled more than three months ago, had taken advantage of a parole system that allows prisoners to come and go from prison once they have served part of their sentence.

On February 7, 2010 Angelo Ferreira da Silva, sentenced to 15 years in prison for the brutal murder of TV Globo reporter Tim Lopes in 2002, went out of the main door of the prison located in Bangu, Rio de Janeiro state, and never returned. He had received the benefit of sentence reduction in May 2009, going from having to remain behind bars to being able to come and go in what is known as the semi-open system. His escape, however, was only communicated to the Criminal Court on March 3 and then on May 21 of this year new imprisonment order was issued.

The Inter American Press Association (IAPAA) depicted as positive its recent international mission to Peru. Mission goals were to review the overall state of press freedom in the South American country and discuss specific cases of news media and individual journalists who are prevented from working without restrictions.

The IAPA depicted as positive its recent international mission to Peru. Mission goals were to review the overall state of press freedom in the South American country and discuss specific cases of news media and individual journalists who are prevented from working without restrictions.

Experts in law and human rights agreed at a forum held here yesterday by the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) that there is a need to take strong action to investigate and bring to justice those who commit crimes against journalists, suggesting that such actions be made federal offenses.

Live IAPA forum “Failures and Gaps in Justice: How to Prevent Impunity in Offenses Against the Press,” in collaboration with Abraji, and the Catholic Pontifical University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio): www.puc-rio.br/puc-riodigital

Miami (May 13, 2010)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) will hold two events focusing on press freedom next week in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil focusing on impunity surrounding crimes against journalists and the application of free speech principles.