Break-in at publisher and news agency specialising in women's affairs

Reporters Without Borders condemns a break-in that was discovered yesterday morning at the Mexico City offices of CIMAC, an NGO that publishes reports about women's issues and runs its own news agency, Cimac Noticias. Most of its computer equipment and much of its archives were stolen. “We add our voice to the voices of all the organisations that have publicly condemned this act of vandalism and we express our support for CIMAC,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We hope an investigation will quickly establish who was responsible.” CIMAC editorial coordinator Caroline Velásquez told Reporters Without Borders: “We think this break-in definitely has to do with CIMAC and the work we have been doing for years to defend human rights and free expression.” Cimac Noticias has recently covered many sensitive stories including a case of sexual abuse of young girls by police officers, rapes of indigenous women by soldiers and harassment of Lydia Cacho, a freelance journalist who has written about paedophile rings (see release No. 16013). CIMAC has reported the break-in to the judicial authorities and 10 NGOs representing social workers, journalists and human rights activists have issued a joint appeal for the break-in to be investigated as quickly as possible.